Terror in A New Dimension
by Vile.EXE
Summary: Glimpse into one of my future headcanons. Four young teens from a new future enter a new world and find themselves facing a horror they didn't expect... Hey, it's Halloween time. You expected there to NOT be anything scary?
1. Chapter 1

**Vile: *hears knocking at the door* Hmm. Who could that be? *walks over and opens door***

 **RK777: Trick or treat! *a small Eevee in a princess costume is by his feet***

 **Eevee: Vee vee!**

 **Vile: Hey, Rocket! Nice to see you again! *A Mimikyu walks over, as does a Pokemon that looks like a young Silvally in a costume that resembles Kamen Rider Build***

 **Mimikyu: *waves claw* Kyu kyu!**

 **?: Cull!**

 **RK777: Likewise. Who's this big pupper?**

 **Vile: This here's a Pokemon I created. His name is Miracull, and he's a pre-evolution of Type: Null. I'll have to link you and the readers to his page. *scratches Miracull behind his neck, making him bark***

 **RK777: Sounds great. So, on this season of scares, what have you guys got on your to-do list?**

 **Vile: Well, since last year's Halloween story was a glimpse into one of my Yugioh futures, I decided, "Why not do it again?" This time, I decided to show my future of ARC-V. *to readers* And trust me, you guys will NEED to suspend your disbelief, because I am basically throwing the canon ending of ARC-V out the window for this, on top of anything else that comes between ARC-V and this story. Please bear with me here.**

 **RK777: Bare with us, you mean. Arc-V was a bit of a cluster of an ending and a huge animal of a concept; and it's probably going to take more than one mind to make some sense of things. If you'll have me on the writing team, that is.**

 **Vile: Trust me, I'll need all the help I can get. For now, though, let's sit back and enjoy the show of the future! *notices that Miracull and Eevee sat down when I said "Sit"* *chuckles* Loyal. Very loyal.**

* * *

"You all set, Yuga? It could be a bumpy ride."

"If I can handle Action Duels, I think I can handle this, Dad."

"Just had to check. You can be as stubborn as your mom sometimes."

"And just as reckless as you, Yuya."

"*laughs* Can't argue with that. Have fun out there, Yuga!"

"I will! See ya later!"

* * *

"Yuri! Shihime! What's taking you so long?"

"Gomen, Kaa-chan. Had to deal with a last-minute ruffian."

"*sighs* There's always one, isn't there?"

"Don't worry your cute head, dear. Our princess took care of it like a charm, and I'm sure she can handle whatever her friends have for her."

"You have a point. Just don't let it end too quickly, okay, Shihime?"

"Hai! I'll show them what Academia taught me!"

* * *

"Kuso, kuso, kuso! I'm gonna be late!"

"She should've been here by now. Did she get lost again?"

"No, Rin, it's around Halloween time. Traffic sucks this time of year."

"INCOMING!"

"Oh jeez! Kazehana, you need to work on your dismount!"

"I'll do it later, Papa. I'm gonna be late."

"Portal's still open, Kaze. Go, go, go!"

"Okay, Mama! Love you both!"

* * *

"Ok, I think I just about have everything I need."

"You sure, Tamotsu?"

"Nii-chan, he's already checked himself twice. I think he's fine."

"I still don't know if you're going to need a whole lot for this."

"This is a Dimension I've barely been to that we're talking about, Tou-sama. Anything can happen."

"You can't blame him for being thorough, Yuto."

"I know, I know. At least if anything does happen, you're prepared."

"Yep. Well, I better get going."

"Be careful out there!"

"Will do, Kaa-sama!"

* * *

Terror in A New Dimension

Chapter 1

Night had fallen over a world that not many people would recognize by looking at it. Though the cityscape was well-lit, the colors are the area were muted, giving almost a dingy feel to it in spite of the area actually being in pristine condition. Such colors were likely an aesthetic choice, though, as the world below bustled like any other under the stars and full moon. Decorations scattered across the place made it clear that it was no ordinary night: Halloween was upcoming, and the populace was getting ready for their own events.

However, if one looked close enough at this world, one might notice something… out of place on the people living here. Though they seemed like you and me, down to the friendly greeting and kids playing together, their eyes carried an odd trait: The whites of their eyes were instead black, which would give off an evil vibe to anyone who wasn't aware of this location. This is not the world that most of us know, but a different world… one that does connect to the one we're used to.

In the common area of what appeared to be a school, a few students nearby with the same blackened eyes, four portals opened up in space, catching everyone's eyes. One by one, a person walked out of each portal before they closed, each with proper white scleras, and with similar facial features among them all.

Some of the bystanders seemingly smiled in recognition. "Oi, oi! It's Yuga Sakaki!" One of them cried, pointing to the one currently in front of the four: A young man of 14, having fair skin, blue eyes, and two-colored spiky hair that was predominantly a light pink, but the front of it was a bright red, having two small bangs beside his face and a single strand that stuck up and curved like the blade of a scythe. He wore an orange shirt with a large green musical note spray-painted on it (the note itself having an "A" in white within it), yellow pants, black shoes, and what appeared to be a white jacket draped over his shoulders like a towel, the sleeves tied in a knot in the front.

"Sakaki? He and his friends came here?" Another one asked as the second traveler, a girl of the same age, brushed some dirt off her shoulder. Her eyes were pink with a sharp shape, and her hair was long and a darker pink than Yuga's, kept in a braided ponytail that went past her rear end, though the front of her hair was dark blue and had sort of a palm tree look to it, two dark blue sidetails coming from that portion. Her outfit appeared to be a fancy uniform of some sort, being purple and light blue, with yellow trim, yellow stars in orange circles on the jacket's sleeves by the shoulders, fingerless gloves (one red, one blue), a short purple skirt, knee-length black socks, and white shoes. Noticeably, there was also a pink sash tied around her waist into a large bow, two tails coming off of it.

"Yeah, they're from other Dimensions!" A third bystander said as the third traveler, another teenage girl, cracked her neck a bit. She had fair skin, orange eyes, and curly blonde hair that reached her shoulders, the top of her hair having what looked like five ridges, and a green fringe with two sidetails that were long enough that the ends touched, making them look like a green ring. Her outfit was simpler than the others': A bright blue t-shirt with the letters "HK" within a pink starburst on it, skin-tight lime green pants, white shoes, and a gold ring on each of her ring fingers. To complete her ensemble, a white flower could be seen nestled in the left side of her hair.

"Sugee… Who knew they'd come here?" A girl said with slight giddiness as the blonde girl helped up their final compatriot, a boy of their age with gray eyes and spiky black hair. His hair noticeably had two different shades of black, having a wing-like fringe that had a noticeable purple tint that the rest of his hair lacked, two long bangs coming down from this part of the hair. He was wearing a white button-up shirt with short sleeves, blue pants, a black tie, brown shoes, and a knee-length, unbuttoned, black overcoat overtop the rest of it, a red ribbon tied around the coat's right sleeve.

Yuga walked over to the rest of them as they grouped together. "You guys got the invite too, huh?"

"Yeah, Zed told us this was the place." The black-haired boy said, looking around.

The pink-haired girl looked around, slower than the boy. "Definitely looks like it." She said, shivering at how empty it looked in spite of people actually being there.

Out of nowhere, from the shadows near them, a voice was heard: "Yuga, Shihime, Kazehana, Tamotsu. Glad to see you guys could make it." The voice made them jump as the voice's owner emerged: A young man their age, having the same black sclera as the rest of his dimension alongside his green eyes, though he had more of an air of playfulness than evil. His hair was a combination of silver and brown, the silver part being in front of his hair with four prominent spikes arranged in a way that resembled a clawed hand minus the thumb.

"Dude, why do you always do that?" Kazehana said, trying to re-catch her breath.

"Because I know it works." The native boy replied teasingly, sticking his tongue out at her.

The group finally got their composures back. "Anyway, what did you want Zed?" Yuga asked, getting things back on track.

"Well," Zed explained, "seeing as Halloween is coming up, I thought you guys would like to take part in a little game a friend of mine started a few years ago."

The four just kinda looked at each other before looking back at Zed. "What kind of game?" Yuga asked, tilting his head.

"Follow me. I'll show ya." Zed told them before leading them through the school, the students greeting the visitors as they went by. Eventually they made it to a small stadium within the building, which was rather dimly lit at the moment.

As he led them onto the field, a voice from the stands called out. "Hey guys, you made it!" The group looked up and saw two kids their age, also with a few shared facial features to them, looking at them, one of them waving. The waving one was a girl with periwinkle and teal hair, gold eyes, and a powder blue dress, while the other was a smiling boy with maroon hair with bits of white in it, hazel eyes, and a red-brown outfit.

"Hey, Hoshiko! Hey, Yusha!" Kazehana cried as the group waved to them.

Zed then stopped walking and turned around, doing a quick count and coming to four. "Let me guess," he said directly to Yuga, "Mayu's doing homework, right?"

"Yeah. The teacher gave out extra credit, too. It's like catnip for her." Yuga explained, making everyone nod in agreement.

"Her loss." Zed said with a snicker and a shrug. "Meantime, I'll let the game master explain the rules." With that, Zed slowly backed away from the group. "Benedict…" He said in a sing-song voice. "I've got your victims!"

The minute he finished his sentence, the lights shut off, leaving the group in total darkness. "Hey! Turn the lights back on!" Kazehana exclaimed, clearly unnerved by this move. On cue, a single light shined down on the four kids, revealing that Zed no longer near them. They quickly moved to stand with their backs against each other, as if ready for a fight.

Brief silence ensued before a voice spoke through the darkness: "Welcome to Hell, Duelists."

"Nani? Who's there?" Tamotsu asked, looking around. The others looked around as well, and soon all eyes came to rest in one spot. Just outside the light stood a boy about their age with long ashen gray hair, staring at them with yellow irises against his black scleras. The kids shuddered seeing him stand there. "Gotta hand it to him. Those eyes really add to the atmosphere."

The boy stared at them as if they were prey. "It's not often outsiders step into this game." He said. "Should add a nice bit of entertainment. I'll admit, the game has gotten stale without someone to scare."

Yuga smiled. "Well, what better time for a good scare than Halloween, am I right?"

The others nodded, which made Benedict chuckle. "So, what's the game?" Shihime asked.

Benedict only said one word: "Survival."

"Survival?" Kazehana parroted, confused.

"All four of you against me." Benedict explained as he started to circle them. "One by one, I hunt you down. Each time you beat me, I get something new. Don't lose track of yourselves out here." As he seemed to stalk them, Benedict could see by the looks on their faces that he needed to explain further. "Because you'll outnumber me, my Life Points will logically be very high. However, this game will give you another way to win." Pulling a card out of his pocket, he tossed it toward Shihime, who caught it and looked at it. It was a paper copy of an Action Magic Card called "Generator", which she passed around as Benedict kept talking. "Find those cards, and you'll enter a little mini-game. The last one of you to complete 5 and find the exit will win for the team. And to give you an extra handicap, I only get one monster on my field at a time."

"Sounds easy enough." Tamotsu said, but then he quickly thought about it. "…Is there a catch to this?"

Benedict tossed another card to him, this time an Action Trap with a rather gruesome image of someone hanging from a meat hook, which was fittingly titled "Hooked". "If any one of you finds 3 of these, you're out." Benedict explained as Tamotsu passed the card around. "And like I said, 'Each time you beat me, I get something new.' That means the field changes, but nothing's reset; the current Phase ends, and it instantly becomes my turn, so that I can bring a new monster into the fray. After that, turn order continues as normal, unless it would have been my turn next, anyway."

"It's not that easy, guys!" Yusha shouted from the stands. "Be careful out there!"

"What, did you guys do this while waiting for us?" Kazehana loudly asked.

"No, we just watched the practice runs!" Hoshiko explained.

Benedict spoke up again, regaining the attention of the four friends. "So... are you willing to be my prey for the evening?" He asked, backing into the darkness and disappearing from sight. "If so, please position yourselves around the campfire." As he said that, a spotlight turned on not that far from them, revealing a lit campfire on the arena floor that they assumed was created with real Solid Vision.

The four friends turned to each other. "Well, guys," Yuga asked them, "what are we waiting for?"

"I'm game." Tamotsu said before looking to Shihime. "How about you?"

Shihime smiled. "No reason to waste an opportunity."

"Yosh! Then we're all ready to go!" Kazehana said, excitement filling her voice.

"You sure, Kaze?" Shihime asked, raising an eyebrow. "You are pretty easy to scare sometimes."

Kazehana placed hands on hips confidently, cocking her head. "Heh! Being scared just adds to the thrill!" Her eyes then seemed to get small flames in them. "It gets me fired up!" Shihime gave a light laugh at this, to which Kazehana playfully blew a raspberry at her.

"Okay, then let's do it!" Yuga exclaimed. With that, the four teens walked over to the campfire and positioned themselves around it.

As they did, though, Shihime felt something next to her foot. Looking down, she notices a basket sitting next to it with various items in it. "What's this for?" she asked.

"Supplies." Benedict's voice replied from the darkness. "You will need them. Also, there are Offerings. You are about to enter a world created by a malevolent god. The Offerings may appease him enough to allow you certain benefits. Of course, you could just play blind."

The quartet looked to each other, but before they could say anything, Yuga piped up. "I think we'll be good enough on our own. We can handle a tough challenge!" The others nodded, deciding to trust his judgment.

"Very well." Benedict said, but as he continued speaking, his voice turned creepier. "Then let the game... begin!"

A card flew out of the darkness and landed in the campfire, too quickly for them to get a good enough look, but Shihime noted to herself that it looks like some kind of farmland in the card art. Suddenly, as the card burst into flames, it released a dark smoke the surrounds the quartet the quartet in a thick fog.

"Man," Tamotsu coughed as the smoke covered him, "I'm glad I don't have asthma." As the smoke faded into a dark mist, Tamotsu suddenly found himself in what appeared to be an overgrown, rotten cornfield… and it didn't take long to realize the others weren't with him anymore. "Huh?" He frantically looked around, seeing nothing but corn each way he turned. "Yuga?! Shihime?! Kazehana?!" No response came from his calls, making him worry all the more. "Wh... Where'd they go?!"

In a different part of the cornfield, though, Kazehana was also alone, albeit perfectly unharmed and trying to shove parts of the corn aside trying to find everyone. "Dang it!" She exclaimed in frustration. "I can't tell where I'm going!" Another frustrated shove actually snapped some of the stalks in half.

Kazehana, along with Tamotsu and an unharmed Shihime and Yuga, however, could be seen on a screen on Benedict's Duel Disk, though he himself wasn't actually looking at it, rather staring off into space. Unfazed by the labyrinth in front of him, he took a couple of quick breaths before activating the blade of his Disk. "Time to go to work." He mused, raising his hand and snapping his fingers.

When the snap was heard, the Action Cards floating above the field burst and dispersed all across the field. Hearing this happen, Shihime, who was near a old barn, looked up to see the cards flying everywhere. "Looks like the game's on." She said as she activated her Duel Disk.

Yuga also activated his Disk, as did Tamotsu and Kazehana, though Yuga happened to look over to see what he happened to be standing next to: A tree which had pig carcasses hanging from its branches. "Eeeugh!" He exclaimed, recoiling more in disgust than horror. "They pulled out all the stops with this field!" Letting out a breath, he quickly regained his composure as he looked around. "It's a bit un-orthodox, but just doesn't feel right without doing it." He cleared his throat before raising his voice. "ACTIOOOON..."

His shout, which WAS actually heard by everyone, triggered a habit in them all as they finished the line along with him: "DUEL!"

 **Benedict: 16000**

 **Yuga: 4000**

 **Shihime: 4000**

 **Tamotsu: 4000**

 **Kazehana: 4000**

"Only fitting I start with a monster befitting this open field." Benedict said to no one as he looked over his hand. "But first, I'll discard 1 card. Nightmare Monk, Tokushu Shoukan." Appearing in front of him was a dark-colored skeleton in tattered robes

 **Nightmare Monk: Lv.3 DARK Zombie ATK:1150/DEF:800**

"Then, because it's now in my Graveyard, I can banish my Level 7 False Ghoul King and Dark Tune it with my Nightmare Monk." From out of a purple portal, a scraggly-looking anthropomorphic lion emerged, having royal robes, green fur, and a living snake for a tail. With a yell, False Ghoul King's entire body turned black before turning into seven black Level Stars, which made a circle and connected with black lightning to form a gateway. Nightmare Monk flew through the gateway, his body disintegrating from the dark energy and revealing three white Level Stars. "The darkness deepens within the mad god's world. Its servant emerges to roam its domain!" The seven black stars then moved like a serpent, touching each white star and "eating" them while also losing a black star each. The remaining four stars then swirled together before combining, letting out a black flash of energy. "Daaku Shinkuro Shoukan (Dark Synchro Summon)!" The black energy was slashed apart by a bladed tool, and from out of it landed a disfigured male form, dressed in tattered clothing reminiscent of a farmer, his right shoulder hunched up as if attached to skin stretched from his face. "Begin the hunt! Servant of the Entity…" In one hand he held a hammer, but his dominant hand slashed a small chainsaw that he revved loudly as he let out a groaning yell. "Backwoods Dasher!"

 **Servant of the Entity – Backwoods Dasher: Lv. -4 DARK Fiend/Dark Synchro ATK:1950/DEF:0**

"Turn end. Now then…" Benedict snapped his fingers, and Dasher revved his chainsaw once more as they began walking through the corn. "…The hunt is on."

* * *

Author-Made Cards

Nightmare Monk  
Level 3 DARK Fiend  
ATK:1150/DEF:800  
You can discard 1 card from your hand; Special Summon this card from your hand. If this card is send to the Graveyard for a Dark Synchro Summon: You can reveal 1 Dark Tuner monster in your hand; Special Summon this card, but banish it when it leaves the field.

False Ghoul King  
Level 7 DARK Fiend/Dark Tuner  
ATK:1500/DEF:1800  
This face-up card on the field cannot be used as a Dark Synchro Material. If this card is in the Graveyard: You can target 1 Fiend-Type monster you control; banish both this card and that target, and if you do, Dark Synchro Summon 1 Fiend-Type Dark Synchro Monster from your Extra Deck whose Level equals the total Levels of the banished monsters.

Servant of the Entity - Backwoods Dasher  
Level -4 DARK Fiend/Dark Synchro  
ATK:1950/DEF:0  
(Effects will appear next chapter)

Rotten Fields Farm  
Action Field Spell Card  
You can use Action Cards, but you can only have 1 Action Card in your hand.

* * *

 **RK777: Why does some of this seem familiar?**

 **Vile: What do you mean, "familiar"?**

 **RK777: I'm not gonna say. I'll see if any of the readers can catch the references in Benedict and his Deck.**

 **Vile: *smirks* Smart idea. I like to see if the readers can figure things out. *notices Eevee eating candy* Don't eat that stuff too fast, Eva. You'll get sick.**

 **Eva: *nibbling on a cherry Twizzler* Vee vee!**

 **Vile: *chuckles* Isn't she just adorable?**

 **Miracull: Cull! *licks Eva's cheek***

 **RK777: That she is. But I just know she's gonna be bouncing off the walls soon enough.**

 **Vile: Well, we'll have to be ready for that. If you guys liked this chapter, leave a review for me and stay tuned, because I plan on keeping a chapter a day until we get to Hallomaweens. We'll save some candy for anyone who figures out the game here. Ja ne for now!**

 **Computer Voice: Vile, logging out.**


	2. Chapter 2

**RK777: Welcome back, Halloweenies. You ready to get this unique match underway?**

 **Vile: This fic is a lot longer than I thought it was. I really hope I'm gonna be able to finish it by Halloween itself.**

 **RK777: Yeah, now I'm regretting pitch this to you. but we're just about done with it. We just need to buckle down and we've got it.**

 **Vile: No kidding. There's a lot of ground to cover, but I think this is probably the longest chapter overall. With any luck, the rest will be less of a load.**

 **RK777: We'll see. I know the next one was a tough one. Still, this is fun, right?**

 **Vile: Yeah. I don't even like horror, and this is kinda fun. Sure, it's pretty hefty, but it's Halloween. You kinda have to break out the spookies. Anyway, let's not keep this stalled for much longer. Enjoy Chapter 2, folks!**

* * *

Terror in A New Dimension

Chapter 2

Hearing the revving of something sinister, Yuga could only gulp. "That doesn't sound good. I'd better get something out. Ore no turn! Draw!" He drew his first card. "Entermate Band Mandoleech, Shoukan." His monster emerged as an anthropomorphic leech with bright clothing fitting that of a showman, which was completed by headphones around its neck, and its front had strings across them that it plucked to make noise.

 **Entermate Band Mandoleech: Lv.3 EARTH Insect/Pendulum ATK:900/DEF:1200**

"Entermate Band Trumpest no kouka hatsudo. Since I Normal Summoned an Entermate Band monster with a different Type, I can Special Summon him." This monster looked more like a green-skinned djinn surrounded by stormclouds, wearing the same bright clothing and headphones. He held a batch of these clouds under his arm with trumpets sticking out of them, making them resemble makeshift bagpipes.

 **Entermate Band Trumpest: Lv.5 WIND Thunder/Pendulum ATK:2050/DEF:1900**

"Kaado ichi mai settei. Turn end." A facedown appeared on Yuga's field.

Meanwhile, Shihime had wandered away from the barn she had started from, seeing the disrepair it was in, and hear the revving in the distance. "That creature could be anywhere." She said. "I'd better play it safe. Watashi no turn! Draw!" She drew her card. "Thermal Force - Zulu Ignite, Shoukan!" A small burst of flame erupted on Shihime's field, receding to reveal a muscled man that appeared to be clad in a red-and-blue police uniform, having a few high-tech additions as well as a large nightstick with a burning tip.

 **Thermal Force – Zulu Ignite: Lv.3 FIRE Psychic ATK:1300/DEF:700**

"And now I can add a WATER Thermal Force monster from my Deck to my hand." A blue streak came out of her Deck, going into her hand and becoming a card. "Kaado ni mai settei. Turn end." Two facedowns appeared on her field.

Elsewhere, as Kazehana passed the ruins of a two-story wooden house, she too heard the revving, but rather than worry, she just got more excited. "Yosha! Moete kita (I'm fired up)!" she exclaimed. "Boku no turn! Draw!" She drew her card. "Horizon Gear Accel Board no kouka hatsudo! By sending it from my hand to the Graveyard, I can Special Summon Horizon Gear Featherman!" Her monster emerged as a green-and-white humanoid robot that was designed as if it was clad in a wingsuit.

 **Horizon Gear Featherman: Lv.1 WIND Machine ATK:200/DEF:300**

"Featherman no kouka hatsudo! Once per turn, I can Special Summon a Level 1 monster from my Graveyard! Yomigaere, Horizon Gear Accel Board!" From out of a purple portal, a new machine emerged that was not humanoid in appearance, instead resembling some sort of green-and-black skateboard.

 **Horizon Gear Accel Board: Lv. 1 WIND Machine/Tuner ATK:500/DEF:400**

"Next, Horizon Gear Color Blaster, Shoukan!" Another humanoid robot emerged, this one decked on in more armored gear with various color splotches and holding a gun that resembled a paintball gun.

 **Horizon Gear Color Blaster: Lv.2 WIND Machine ATK:900/DEF:800**

"Ikuze! Boku wa Reberu Ichi no Featherman to Reberu Ni no Color Blaster ni Reberu Ichi no Accel Board o Tyuningu (I Tune the Level 1 Featherman and Level 2 Color Blaster with the Level 1 Accel Board)!" In the air above, a visible white jetstream began to form, and Accel Board rocketed into the air to begin riding it. As it did, it changed into a single Level Star, which then morphed into a Synchro Ring. Featherman and Color Blaster flew through the Ring, becoming visible outlines with 3 Level Stars total, then the Stars lined up before green light shone through the ring. "Shinkuro Shoukan (Synchro Summon)! Arawareyo (Come forth), Horizon Gear Rocket Glider!" From out of the green light, rocket engines were heard as a robotic entity emerged, its body attached to a large green, black, and white rocket-powered hang glider.

 **Horizon Gear Rocket Glider: Lv.4 WIND Machine/Synchro ATK:2000/DEF:1000**

"Speed Up Kitaa!" Kazehana shouted. "Rocket Glider, attack Backwoods Dasher!" Glider revved an unseen engine by gripping the handle of its hang glider… but then it stopped and looked around in confusion, making Kazehana confused as well. "Eh? Why aren't you doing anything?" Her Duel Disk then beeped, making her check it and see a message from the actual Duel system."

 _ **Target not in range. Cannot attack.**_

"Not in range?" She said out loud in confusion. "What?" Then, after thinking about it, the answer hit her. "Oh, right. Battle Royale rules. I'm technically on my own right now. Well, I better find him before he finds me. Turn end!" Kazehana took off, moving through the cornfield as fast as her could with her monster flying behind her.

Tamotsu seemed to be far enough away to where he couldn't hear the revving of the glider engine nor the chainsaw, but then his Duel Disk beeped with his own message. "Looks like it's my turn now. Draw!" He drew his card. "If he's hunting us down, I'll need to be ready. Kaado san mai settei." Three facedowns appeared on his field: 1 monster, 2 Magic or Trap Cards. "Turn end."

As his turn finished, Benedict climbed up to the top of a broken down combine looking over the area. Surveying the area, he took and deep breath and shouted out so everyone could hear him. "Look out, little sausages! I'm coming for you!" He drew his cards. "Magic Card, **Power Stack** , hatsudo! I search my Deck for up to 4 Spells and Traps that can be equipped to a monster I control, and then I equip them to that monster." Benedict's Deck auto-shuffled and then popped out 4 cards, which he then equipped to his monster without announcing what they were. "Now that my Killer has his Perks," he said as he looked over the field, "let's go hunting." Noticing the corn rustling to his left, he climbed back down the combine and slowly walked in that direction until he could just barely see Kazehana through the corn. A grin crept onto his face, anticipating what was about to happen.

As for Kazehana, though, her heart somehow began to beat fast and hard; not out of excitement, but fear, making her look around. "Something's nearby..." She said with a gulp. "I can feel it!"

In the stands, Zed had joined Hoshiko and Yusha in watching the Duel. "And here's where Benedict's power comes into play." he said.

"I hope Kazehana's gonna be all right out there." Yusha said, worried about his friend.

"She will be as long as she can control her fear." Zed explained. "Right now, Benedict's using his psychic powers to create what he calls a terror radius. Anyone inside of it will start to feel intense panic, and the closer he is, the more their heart will race and more fear they'll feel."

"H-He knows how to not go too far, right?" Hoshiko asked, now equally worried.

"I'm hoping he does." Zed told him, secretly hiding a smile from them.

Back in the duel, Benedict had decided he waited long enough to make his move. "Backwoods Dasher no kouka hatsudo! Once during the Battle Phase, if my monster is in the same column as one of my opponent's monsters, his Attack Points become 3000, and he can destroy any Magic or Trap cards in the same column!" The chainsaw began to rev again, multiple times over.

 **Backwoods Dasher ATK:3000**

Kazehana could hear the chainsaw's blade, but the sound seemed to come from all around her, making her look all around. "Nani...? Where is it? Show yourself!" She shouted, her budding fear audible in her voice.

"Chainsaw Rush!"

Dasher took off from Benedict's side, and was in the area within seconds. Kazehana only had a split-second to see the gruesome creature before it brought its chainsaw down, sawing through Rocket Glider right down the middle. "Waaaaaaaaah!" She screamed, jumping back in fright before the blade strike caused Glider to be obliterated with an explosion.

 **Kazehana LP:3000**

The monster stood there for a moment before turning to look at Kazehana, fully showing its hideous face. Kazehana started to shake in fear, both at the sight of this… THING and because of the effect from Benedict's powers. "Wha... What is that?!"

"Hmhmhmhm... FOUND YOU." She could hear Benedict's voice, but despite looking around, she couldn't see him; only his monster. She actually started to think that Benedict had BECOME the monster. "Equip Magic, **Unrelenting Hunter**." He said. "My monster can attack twice. Might want to find an Action Card, little sausage." Backwoods Dasher slowly began to move towards Kazehana, raising his hammer to attack.

 **Backwoods Dasher ATK:1950**

Kazehana looked around while walking backwards, trying to find anything to get her out of this… but the only thing she succeeded at, though, was tripping over her own feet, causing her to land in the grass. "Oof!" She slowly sat up, but as she did, she noticed a card between her legs. "Huh? Is that one?" She grabbed it in the hope that it wasn't a Hooked Trap Card… and fortunately, it wasn't. "Yosh! Action Magic, **Pulldown Pallet** , hatsudo!" An old wooden pallet resting between two walls appeared in front of her, and Kazehana managed to quickly get up and pull the pallet down on Dasher, stunning him as it hit him. "See ya!" She exclaimed before taking off into the field.

As the monster groaned from being stunned, Benedict walked into the area, rubbing his chin. "Clever girl. That not only negated my attack, but put me on the defensive." As the monster shook off the hit, he took a knee and the readout showed it in Defense Mode. "Or rather it would have. I enter the second Main Phase, and activate the effect of my equipped **Enduring Spirit**. When equipped to a Servant of the Entity, I can change my monster's battle position if it's ever changed for him." Shaking off the impact, Dasher stood back up.

Meanwhile, Kazehana quickly rushed through the field, trying to get away from the monster, only to slam into something else. "Ow!" She exclaimed as she landed back on her rear. "Darn it!"

"Eh? Kazehana?"

Kazehana looked up and realized that she had bumped into Yuga. Jumping back to her feet, she helped him up and pulled him into a tight hug. "Yuga! You don't know how glad I am to see a familiar face!"

"You and me both, Kaze!" Yuga returned the hug with one arm before they broke. "Maybe with a little teamwork, we can get out of this."

"Yeah. Did you find Hime and Tamotsu?"

"No, haven't seen them at all. We need to keep looking."

Kazehana nodded. "Yeah, before that... thing does."

Yuga's Duel Disk then beeped, signaling that it was his turn. "Yosh! Let's see what I can do. Ore no turn! Draw!" He drew his card, but as he did, he heard a loud caw behind him. "Eh?" Turning around, he saw a crow with glowing red eyes staring at him.

"Equip Spell, **Spies from the Shadows.** You all must take your turns with your hands revealed." Benedict explained.

"Ugh. Not like it's gonna matter much!" Yuga groaned before taking two cards from his hand and holding them out. "Ore wa Sukeru Zero no **Entermate Band Accordino** to Sukeru Yon no **Entermate Band Bassooboon** de, Pendyuramu Sukeru o Settingu (I Set the Pendulum Scale with the Scale 0 Accordino and Scale 4 Bassooboon)!"

Within two columns of light, two more monsters with the bright clothing and headphones emerged: A dinosaur with a slightly scrunched-in neck and an accordion that he held like a yo-yo, and a baboon with a large woodwind instrument as a staff. The numbers "0" and "4" appeared underneath them.

In a different part of the field, Shihime looked up when she saw the light. "Yuga!"

Tamotsu also saw the light. "Way to give us a North Star to follow." He said as he started to move towards the columns.

"Bassooboon no kouka hatsudo!" Yuga continued. "Since the other card in my Pendulum Zone isn't a Beast-Type monster, its Pendulum Scale rises to 11!" Bassooboon twirled his instrument staff before blowing into it, creating a low sound that resonated in the air. Its Scale actually shook from the sound before counting up to 11. With the preparation done, Yuga snapped his fingers. "Music of the soul travels the Pendulum's arc!" Accordino played his accordion yo-yo alongside Trumpest blowing his trumpets, sound waves coming from each of them. "Reach the hearts of all across dimensions!" Mandoleech plucked its strings alongside Bassooboon's blowing, forming more sound waves. "Pendyuramu Shoukan!" The blue sky above had a portal open and fire a large purple beam to the ground… and a new sound began to be heard. It wasn't an instrument, but rather it was singing: An elegant, prominent tenor voice that focused more on melody and had no lyrics. "Arawareyo, Entermate Band... Vocalong!" As the voice kept singing, a clawed hand moved about in the air before coming to a rest near a dragonic face, red eyes opening before it let out a loud final note. A spotlight illuminated the monster: An anthropomorphic purple dragon dressed in more ornate clothing in the same style as the others, still wearing the signature headphones, but his set actually had a built-in microphone beside his mouth. The dragon took a bow as the other members of Yuga's Deck, even the ones in the Pendulum Zones, applauded his lovely performance.

 **Entermate Band Vocalong: Lv.8 LIGHT Dragon/Pendulum ATK:2800/DEF:2500**

"You think a rousing chorus will save you from the terror right in front of you?" Benedict asked in a threatening voice.

"I've SEEN terror before, pal." Yuga said before reaching into his pocket and pulling out an item, unfolding them. "And compared to that…" He slid the item over his eyes: A pair of red triangular sunglasses. "…this is a challenge I can take!"

At that moment, Shihime and Tamotsu managed to finally breach through the corn to find Yuga and Kazehana. "Hime, Tamotsu!" Kazehana exclaimed as she ran over to them. "You're all right!"

"Yeah, for now." Tamotsu replied.

Shihime pointed to a nearby shack. "Let's take shelter there and think up a plan."

"Good idea." Yuga said. "Keep him busy, Vocalong!" The dragon gave a thumbs-up before the group headed toward the shack, Tamotsu slamming the door behind them.

Kazehana breathed a sigh in relief. "That was scary. You guys don't want to look that thing in the eye." Outside, a crow cawed as it landed on the sill of a broken window. No one paid any mind to it.

"I can tell that it must've been bad. You look like you saw a ghost, Kaze-chan." Shihime said, trying to calm her down.

"Okay, let's catch our breath." Yuga suggested. "We need to try to figure out what we're gonna do."

"Well, we do need to find those Generator cards that he mentioned," Tamotsu said, "but this field is large enough that I wouldn't know where to look."

"And we can't just flip every card we see." Shihime added. "We could end up triggering those Hooked Traps."

Suddenly Benedict's voice filled the room. "Hmhmhmhm...Allow me to give you novices a hand. Check the chest near you." The group, startled, looked to their left and indeed saw a chest there.

"Uh... Should we trust that?" Yuga asked.

"Do we have much choice?" Shihime told him before she went over and opened the chest. Sure enough, there was a rolled up piece of paper inside of it, which was shown to be some kind of map when Shihime unfurled it.

"If you can decipher that map, you should have an idea of where the Generator cards are." Benedict's voice told them. "That's the best hint I'll be giving you, though. Once the field changes, if you can find the Killer's Shack, you can find another map."

Shihime was too busy looked at the map at different angles. It looked rather shoddy, not even having any words on it. "This is... a map?" She wondered in confused.

Tamotsu took a look over her shoulder. "Hmm... Lemme see it for a moment." Shihime handed him the map, and he then pulled out an object that resembled a D-Gazer with a clear lens, examining the map through it.

"What are you..." Kazehana started to say, but Tamotsu cut her off.

"...These symbols are shoddy, but I can tell what they mean."

Yuga watched him, looking at the lens he was using. "Some new tech from Tenjo-kaicho (Chairman Tenjo)?" He asked, referring to the lens.

"No, it's just a magnifying glass." Tamotsu told him, making Yuga sweatdrop. Tamotsu them showed them the map, pointing at each landmark he could see. "See these areas? A house, a silo, a barn, and a workshop. Each place is circled in green like this one. That must be a clue of some sort. Start looking around for anything useful."

"Like stairs into the basement?" The other turned around to see Kazehana standing on the steps down into the basement.

"Worth a shot to check," Tamotsu said, rolling up the map.

"There's a couple closets, too." Shihime commented. "Let's check them, Yuga."

"Yeah." Tamotsu went down into the basement with Kazehana while Yuga and Shihime checked the closets.

The basement was incredibly dingy and dimly lit, having various bits of clutter everywhere. A sound could be heard, almost as if some kind of fan was running. "Talk about creepy." Kazehana said with a shudder.

"Indeed..." Tamotsu said, taking it in. "Why on Earth is this down here?" Kazehana went to look at a nearby Chest while Tamotsu examined the room. In the center of the room, he noticed 4 facedown Action Cards lying in a cross pattern. "Hmm... This looks incredibly suspicious."

At that moment, Shihime and Yuga came down into the Basement. "Nothing in the closets." Shihime reported.

"Anything here?" Yuga asked before he noticed the arranged cards. "This could be something."

Yuga reaches down for one of the cards, getting Tamotsu's attention. "J-Jotto mate (Wait a minute), Yuga!" He cried, but Yuga had flipped over one of the cards, revealing a Trap Card: Hooked.

"Kuso!" Yuga cried, but in an instant, he found himself surrounded by nothing but shadow, leaving him all alone as his heart started to race. "N-Nanda?! Where am I?" Then, something struck him from behind, forcing him to his knees before he was gruffly picked up and slung over the shoulder of a shadowy figure. Not knowing what else to do, Yuga tried to wriggle out of the figures grip. "Hey! Let me go!" His struggle gained him no attention from the figure as it continued its stride.

Benedict's voice soon echoed in his head. "Action Trap, Hooked. Your Life Points are now halved." Though Yuga couldn't see it, a rusty, cobbled-together pole with a hook appeared in front of the creature. "Find two more, and you're eliminated." The figure forcefully lifted Yuga up and slammed him backfirst into the hook, making it spear him all the way through. Sharp, unbelievable pain ripped through his body all at once, triggering an unavoidable scream.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!"

"Yuga! Yuga!"

Yuga felt a sharp pain on his cheek as he woke up. "Gwah!" He cried as he immediately sat up straight. He was sweating and panting heavily as he held his cheek.

 **Yuga LP:2000 (Hooked: 1)**

"You OK?" Tamotsu asked, making Yuga see that he was shaking his own hand to get rid of a stinging feeling, indicating he had slapped Yuga to wake him up. "What happened?"

"I... I don't know... I grabbed that card and then..." Yuga shuddered as he thought about what he experienced. On a reflex, he quickly feels around his chest, but felt nothing: No pain, no injury, just his own racing heart. "It must've... been an illusion... but it felt so real."

"Hmhmhmhm... You've gotten your first taste of the hook." Benedict's voice echoed. "And what more fitting place than the Basement of the Killer's Shack, where he does his best work for the Entity." Suddenly, all four of them began to feel their hearts race.

"Uh-oh..." Shihime realized. "I think he's here!"

"You're welcome to fight, Yuga." Benedict taunted. "But you only have 2000 Life Points now, and I might just have something that will make them 0."

Yuga gritted his teeth. "Ngh... Vocalong, attack his monster if you can!" Outside, where it was still standing watch, Vocalong stared through the cornfield, eventually managing to lock eyes with the chainsaw-wielding monster. Taking a deep breath through both mouth and nose, he unleashed a powerful blast of sonic energy from his mouth, cutting through the plants en route to its target.

"Trap, hatsudo! Negate Attack!" Vocalong's sonic blast was neutralized by an inexplicable shield that protected Benedict's monster from harm.

Seeing this result on his Disk, Yuga couldn't help but get flustered. "Kuso... He had a Trap. I've got my own, though. Turn end."

"I'm getting tired of this game of cat and mouse." Shihime snorted. "Watashi no turn! Draw! I'm going up there to give him a piece of my mind."

"Wait a minute." Tamotsu said, making her pause. "He has our combined starting total, and once you beat him monster, the rest of your turn is skipped and he gets to replace it like nothing." He then held up the map. "We may outnumber him, but the odds are more in his favor. At least he's giving us a chance to find an alternate win condition."

"Well, where are we supposed to look?" Shihime asked. "We haven't found any of them, even if the map says one is here!"

"It's not." Yuga realized, making Shihime look at him.

"Eh? What do you mean, Yuga?"

"He's calling this the Killer's Shack. More than likely, this is an easy place to find Hooked cards. I mean, there are 4 of them is place view. Let me see the map." Tamotsu handed Yuga the map, and as he looked at it, he noticed that while the other landmarks had faint circles, the shack just a few blotches on it, like the ink had dripped in a way that barely looked like a circle. "See? This shack isn't circled!"

"Huh?" Tamotsu looked again, and Yuga pointed out the difference. "I could've sworn it was!"

"Most of the green on this map is referring to the hills and plant life," Yuga said as he looked close. Then he saw something, pointing to a landmark. "But there is a mark on this tree. This is where I started on this map."

"Then we need to find our way back to where Yuga started!" Kazehana said excitedly.

"I say we split up." Yuga said. "If we're all together, and he really does have the advantage against us, it'll be too easy for him to win. Since it's Hime's turn, she can come with me to give me some cover. Kaze, Tamotsu, you too head to another landmark and see if you can find another one to help us."

"Sounds like a good plan." Tamotsu said with a nod.

Kazehana saluted. "We're on it!"

"Alright, let's run for it!"

Rushing up the stairs, the four teens tore out of the house and took off in two separate directions in their groups of two. Hidden in the corn, Benedict couldn't help but grin. "Now it really begins."

In the stands, Zed had a very worried look on his face. "Oh, this isn't good."

"What do you mean, Zed-kun?" Hoshiko asked.

"That vision Yuga had? That was Benedict using his psychic powers to their fullest." Zed explained. "He actually made Yuga feel like he was stabbed with a hook."

Yusha and Hoshiko gasped, horrified. "Why would he DO that?! That's sick!" Yusha cried in both shock and anger.

"Because he enjoys intensity. He told me he was getting bored with the game the last few times we've done it because we Dark Synchro Dimensioners have found ways to counter his psychic powers. He promised me he'd tone it down, but he's enjoying this too much."

However, Zed quickly found his shirt grabbed by Yusha, who was lightly shaking him. "Then can't you stop him?!" The maroon-haired boy cried.

Zed grabbed Yusha's hands and shoved them off of him. "It's already too late. Benedict made this game, and he's going to see it through to the end no matter what. Besides, look around you." He pointed to the rest of the stadium, showing that there were a lot more spectators than before, and a lot of them had a mix of fear and excitement on their faces. "A good number of us here live off this kind of stuff because of who we are. It's my fault that, among Dark Synchro Dimensioners, I'm the most trusting person there is. I got played just the same as them. But there is a bright side."

"What sort of bright side comes from this?" Hoshiko asked, suspicious.

"He may be dialing the fear to 11, but for the moment, this is still an easy Duel from a Duelist's point-of-view." Zed explained. "Benedict's Spells and Traps are mostly cards that superbuff his Dark Synchros, and these are only the ground level cards he's using right now. If he was playing as full-out as he is using his power, Kaze-chan would likely not have been able to get away the first time and all of them would be Hooked at least once. Plus, he GAVE them the map, something that as far as I know can only be grabbed at the campfire. He's trying to give them a chance to try and make it fun even if he's trying to give them panic attacks in the process." Hoshiko and Yusha couldn't think of any words and just looked back at the Duel, unsure of what to think. "It's a stretch, I know, but believe me, I know Benedict is capable of much worse when it comes to this."

Back in the field, Yuga and Shihime finally made it back to the tree with pig carcasses that Yuga started the Duel from. "Is this really the place, Yuga?"

"Believe me, you don't unsee this place, and this is about relative to where the tree on the map is." Yuga said. "There's gotta be something here to help tell what's a Generator card." He went into thought for a moment before turning to Shihime. "Hime, you were the one who held the card. Did you notice anything about it?"

Shihime tried to remember. "Not really, but..." However, realization struck her as she flashed back to herself looking over the card, noticing one crucial detail. "There's a gold border on the back of the card!"

"A gold border?" Yuga asked before looking around, eventually noticing something. "You mean like that?" He pointed near the tree, where a card that matched her description was resting.

Shihime saw the card and immediately got brightened eyes. "Bingo!" She went for the card and flipped it, revealing the name: "Generator". "Yatta!" From the card, a large electrical generator connected to lights on a tall pole then appeared. "Yuga, let Kaze and Tamotsu know about this, I'll see if I can clear this card."

"Got it!" Yuga chirped as he started typing on his Duel Disk.

*Meanwhile*

While Tamotsu and Kazehana searched for the next landmark, Tamotsu's Disk beeped, and he checked it to find a message.

 _Generator cards have gold borders on the back. Keep on the lookout. –Yuga_

"A gold border, eh? That makes it a little easier, but it's still a needle and haystack scenario." Tamotsu mused.

"Let's look in there." Kazehana said, pointing to a rundown silo that they were coming up on.

Tamotsu checked the map again, finding a picture of the same silo. "This is one of the areas. Let's go."

*Meanwhile*

Back with Shihime and Yuga, the former was examining the generator while Yuga was reading the actual card. "So… how does this work?"

"Uh... Okay..." Yuga said as he read the card, tilting his head in slight confusion.

"What?"

"...It's a coin toss card."

Shihime blinked. "Coin toss." Looking at the generator again, she could see 4 gold coins sitting on top of the main machine.

"The card says you have to get 4 Heads to activate." Yuga explained. "Get Tails, and you have to start over."

Shihime couldn't help but roll her eyes and sigh. "Great." She reached up and took the coins off the machine. "Here goes." Taking one coin and flipping it, she saw it land on Heads. "Yosh!" The coin then glowed and flew out of her hand, changing into the form of a shadowy figure who started working on the generator. As he worked, one of the pistons slowly started to move before finding a steady pace. Shihime tossed the second coin, which also landed on Heads. "Yatta!" The second coin turned into another shadowy figure, who got to work on the generator and made another piston start working. Shihime wasted no time and flipped the third coin, only to see that this result was Tails. Immediately, the generator let out a loud bang as sparks flew, the pistons stopped and the figures disappeared. "Rgh! Kuso!"

"C-Calm down, Hime. Just try again." Yuga told her, trying to calm her down.

"I'm afraid she can't." Benedict's voice spoke from the darkness.

Yuga and Shihime felt their hearts start racing again, pounding so hard they practically hurt, making Yuga gulp. "...I think he found us..."

"Hmhmhmhm... Of course I did. A bang like that is always going to give away your position."

"Khhh... Yuga, can you take over the card?" Shihime asked. "If I have to handle him, I will."

"I'll try." Yuga replied, seeing the coins reform on the generator.

"How cute, the princess thinks she can slay the monster." Benedict mused.

Shihime found herself sweating a bit. "I'm not some damsel in distress! Show yourself and I'll prove it!"

"You want me? Come and get me." The corn around the two of them rustled as the chainsaw's revving was once again heard.

"I'm not playing your game." Shihime said, taking a card from her hand. "Magic Card, Yuugou (Polymerization), hatsudo! I Fuse Zulu Ignite with **Thermal Force - Echo Snow** from my hand!" Zulu Ignite leapt above Shihime as another monster joined him, a male clad in the same police uniform but being chunky enough to resemble a snowman, wielding what looked like a makeshift grenade launcher loaded with snowballs. "Searing flames of justice! Bitter cold of order!" In front of the artwork of Polymerization, Zulu and Echo turned fully red and blue (respectively) before melding together. "Become one now and temper your power to protect all!" A bright light came from their merger before Shihime clasped her hands together. "Yuugou Shoukan (Fusion Summon)!" From out of a swirl of fire and ice, a large being clad in a similar red-and-blue uniform to the others, albeit looking a lot more high-rank than theirs, emerged before revealing two arm cannons connected to energy canisters on the monster's back: One with a flame, one with an icicle. "Arawareyo, Reberu Nana! Thermal Force - Victor Variance!" The monster, revealed to be a cyborg through the various metal areas of its body, opened its one blue eye while its cybernetic red eye flashed on, then it adjusted its police hat with its ice cannon before pointing both cannons forward.

 **Thermal Force – Victor Variance: Lv.7 FIRE/WATER (due to effect; printed as EARTH) Psychic/Fusion ATK:2400/DEF:2200**

"You want me so bad? You'll have to take me. Kaado ichi mai settei!" A facedown emerged on Shihime's field. "Turn-"

"Action Magic, **Iron Grasp** , hatsudo!" In a split-second, Backwoods Dasher jumped out of the corn and delivered a knockout blow to the back of Victor Variance's head, stunning him enough for the monster to hoist him onto his shoulder. "This lets me equip your monster to mine for the turn…" Benedict himself stepped out of the corn in front of Shihime, a small smirk on his face. "…and then, any Trap that would affect me this turn instead affects you." He pulled a card out from behind a nearby stalk. "Like THIS one." He flipped it around, showing that it was a Hooked Trap.

"Bakana!" Shihime cried.

"Your turn now..." Benedict mused before darkness seemed to swallow Shihime, preventing her from seeing him or anything else. Her heart raced before in an instant, she was struck down by the shadowy figure. "Heh. There's no way you can escape me." The figure picked her up and carries to the appearing hook, though Shihime tried to wriggle free.

"Kuso...! I'm not afraid of you! I saw what happened to Yuga! This is nothing but an illusion!" She yelled defiantly.

Benedict then spoke again, and it sounded like it was right next to her ear. "You think so? You don't know what you're in for." The figure then slammed her onto the hook. Shihime tried her best to hold in her scream: Even though it WAS merely an illusion, the pain didn't FEEL like one.

…Then, she realized that, on instinct, she had grabbed for the hook. Horror set in as she realized she could actually feel the rusty metal in her hands. "N... Nani?!"

"Not much of an illusion now…" The figure in front of her pulled off its hood, revealing Benedict's face with an evil smile on it. "…is it, Princess?"

While she didn't scream, Shihime finally let out a fearful gasp at this sight. "B... Bakana..."

Benedict got uncomfortably close to her face, his breath ragged. "It'll end...once you scream."

Despite feeling intense fear, Shihime was resolute enough to give him a weak glare " ...Never..."

"Hmhmhmhm..." Benedict held her chin in his hand as he laughed. "Resilient to the last... just like your father."

 _ **BANG!**_

Shihime woke up in a sweat, the illusion ending. Her body was sprawled out on the ground, her chest heaving as she panted. "His illusions... are unbelievably strong."

 **Shihime LP:2000 (Hooked: 1)**

"That's an understatement." Yuga's voice said. Shihime turned her head to see him crouching next to her, offering a hand to help her up. "You ok, Hime?"

Shihime turned her head back to look straight up, taking a few deep breaths. "Yeah... I'm OK. I'm just... really shaken up."

"You look it." Yuga pulled his hand back, letting her take her time, but then he noticed something. "Did you always have a hole in your Academy coat?"

"Eh?" Shihime quickly propped herself up on her elbows and looked down. There, just under her breasts, was a small hole in her coat as if something had ripped out from the inside. Shihime's eyes widened as the fear she felt grew. "Tha... That's where the hook..." However, in the time it took for both Yuga and Shihime to blink, the hole was gone and her coat was in pristine condition again, except for dust and a bit of dirt.

"It... It vanished!" Yuga said in surprise, gently feeling the fabric in his hands and confirming that it was indeed solid and unharmed.

Shihime placed a hand on her head as she felt a small headache, possibly even some slight vertigo. "This is hurting my head..." She said. "Was it all part of the illusion?"

"It might have been. …You know, in spite of this, I gotta admit, this is still kinda fun."

"Yeah... Yeah, I guess so." She let out a small laugh as though trying to convince both him and herself. "I guess being that scared is... part of the game, right?"

Yuga, however, wasn't quite buying it. "You sure you're ok, Hime?"

"I'm still shook up... but I'll be OK."

Yuga holds out his hand to help her up again, and this time she took it, letting him help her up. "Well, this might help you a bit." Yuga said as Shihime dusted herself off, pointing to the nearby Generator with his thumb. "I managed to get 3 Heads on the Generator. I just need one left."

Shihime gives a small yet genuine smile at that. "Well, what are you waiting for?"

"Just wanted an audience." Yuga said as he held up the coin, earning an eyeroll from Shihime.

"Typical Sakaki."

Yuga ignored her and flipped the coin, catching it on its way down. He opened his hand to reveal the result to be the Heads they needed. "Yosh!" He exclaimed with a fistpump. The coin glowed and flew into the machine as the last pistons started to crank. Soon, the whole machine hummed to life, and the lights hooked up to it flashed on.

 **Generators Powered: 1**

"Yes! One down!" Shihime cried.

"Kind of a good thing Kaze and Tamotsu lost a coin toss." Yuga said, earning a strange look from Shihime. "That's what that bang was from. He could have hit you with a lot worse if it didn't happen. Plus, honestly, the fear was getting to me. I almost dropped the coin a couple of times."

"I don't blame you. I'm just glad to finally get some light out here."

"Yeah, now come on. We better go give Kaze and Tamotsu some backup."

"Right." Shihime looked around. "Which way did they go again?"

Yuga scanned the horizon. "That backfire sounded like it came from over... that way." He then pointed in one direction. Shihime looked where he was pointing, just making out the upper edge of a fallen silo.

"We better go then, that looks like a far run."

"One more thing you gotta do, though, Hime."

"What do you mean, Yuga?"

Yuga smiled. "You still gotta end your turn."

Shihime sweatdropped. "Ehehe... Oh yeah. Turn end." At that point, Iron Grasp ended, and since Dasher was gone, Victor Variance just reappeared back on Shihime's field. "Come on, let's go!" With that the duo took off.

Meanwhile, at the silo, Kazehana was fuming due to a Tails result on a Generator card. "Damn it, I suck at coin tosses."

"I'll take over. You try looking for Action Cards or something." Tamotsu told her. "Plus, it looks like Shihime finished her turn. You'd better put some defenses up."

"Yeah, good idea. Boku no turn! Draw!" Kazehana drew her card. "Magic Card, **New Horizon** , hatsudo! By banishing a Level 5 or lower Synchro Monster from my Graveyard, I can Special Summon monsters whose Levels equal that monster's Level! Yomigaere, Color Blaster, Featherman, Accel Board!" Rocket Glider vanished from her Graveyard, and all three of those monsters re-emerged through purple portals in Defense Mode. "Accel Board no kouka hatsudo! When it's Special Summoned, I can Special Summon a Horizon Gear monster from my Deck!" Accel Board began to float up and caught a jetstream in the air, riding it to gain speed. "Koi, Horizon Gear Spring Leaper!" Out of nowhere, a figure landed on the board before hopping off, parkouring off the walls of the silo before landing, revealing itself to be a light-armored humanoid with stylish high-tech shoes, the soles giving off a green energy field.

 **Horizon Gear Spring Leaper: Lv.1 WIND Machine ATK:600/DEF:500**

Kazehana then took a card from her hand. "Horizon Gear Power Blades, Shoukan!" A new non-humanoid Horizon Gear zoomed onto the field, taking the form of a pair of rocket skates controlled by a small drone.

 **Horizon Gear Power Blades: Lv.2 WIND Machine/Tuner ATK:100/DEF:800**

"Boku wa, Reberu Ichi no Spring Leaper ni Reberu Ni no Power Blades o Tyuningu!" Power Blades shot up and rode the jetstream, morphing into two Level Stars that became Synchro Rings. Spring Leaper seemingly jumped off of walls of thin air to fly through the rings, becoming an outline with a single Level Star, green light shining through. "Shinkuro Shoukan! Arawareyo, Reberu San (Level 3)! Horizon Gear Drift Diamond!" Riding the jetstream, the wind seemed to turn chilly before snow appeared to be sent flying by a drifting machine, which took the form of a large, high-tech snowboard being ridden by an automaton bundled up in winter clothing.

 **Horizon Gear Drift Diamond: Lv.3 WIND Machine/Synchro/Tuner ATK:1100/DEF:300**

In the distance, Kazehana could swear she could hear the hum of an engine, and looking out of the downed silo, she can just see a light of some kind shining in the distance, making her smile. "Tamotsu! I think Yuga and Hime got one of the generators working!"

"Nice! Now we gotta step up our game and help." Tamotsu said.

"And I know just how to do it! Boku wa Reberu Ichi no Featherman to Reberu Ni no Color Blaster ni Reberu Ichi no Accel Board o Tyuningu!" Like before, Accel Board's Level Star became a Synchro Ring that Featherman and Color Blaster flew through, green light shining through the Rings. "Shinkuro Shoukan! Appear again, Horizon Gear Rocket Glider!" Another copy of her rocket-powered hang gliding monster appeared.

 **Horizon Gear Rocket Glider: Lv.4 WIND Machine/Synchro ATK:2000/DEF:1000**

At that moment, Kaze started to feel her heart race, immediately knowing what that means. "H-He's on his way!"

"Can you keep him busy?" Tamotsu replied.

"I've got a good combo now. I should be able to take him this time!"

"Oh really?" Benedict's voice echoed from seemingly nowhere.

"I-I won't be afraid!" Kazehana gulped. "I'll show you!"

"With your monsters the way they are? I doubt it." At that moment, Backwoods Dasher steps through a window and into the silo. "You see, there's one more Equip Spell my monster has."

"As if you needed any more tools!" Tamotsu shouted.

Benedict ignored him and kept talking. "The Equp Magic, **Distressing** , treats my Dark Synchro as having a positive Level, and all non-Dark Synchro monsters that are that Level or lower cannot attack it." Dasher let out an echoing noise as his Level counter shifted.

 **Backwoods Dasher: Lv.4**

"Then I'll just have to go higher than you!" Kazehana shouted as Tamotsu reactivated the Generator card, making the coins reappear. "I've got this, Tamotsu! Boku wa, Reberu Yon no Rocket Glider to Reberu San no Drift Diamond o Tyuningu!" Drift Diamond caught the jetstream and shredded the air before morphing into three Level Stars that became Synchro Rings. However, as Rocket Glider flew through them, a green tint seemed to come over the area as the wind blew furiously. Rocket Glider's four Level Stars lined up among the Rings, and a powerful surge of green energy shot through them. "Akuseru Shinkuro (Accel Synchro)!" The jetstream above was ridden by another machine, but then time mini-waves kicked up from it, as if the jetstream was the ocean itself. "Arawareyo, Horizon Gear Wave Slicer!" With a growl of an engine, the machine leapt off the jetstream and landed on Kazehana's field, revealing it to be a potent, high-tech jet ski with its own robotic rider.

 **Horizon Gear Wave Slicer: Lv.7 WIND Machine/Synchro ATK:2800/DEF:2200**

As this happened, Tamotsu flipped a coin and got a Heads result, starting the repair on the generator. Kazehana gulped as she stared down the monster. "Here goes... Wave Slicer, attack Backwoods Dasher now!" Revving the engine, Wave Slicer formed a jetstream underneath its own body before charging forward.

" **Fear Gripper** no kouka hatsudo!" Benedict's voice echoed from out of sight. "By discarding it from my hand, you monster's attack is negated!"

Kazehana grinned. "Not this time! When Wave Slicer attacks, you can't activate Magic or Trap Cards until after the battle's over!"

From his hiding spot in the field, Benedict beamed like a Cheshire Cat. "You don't understand. Fear Gripper is a monster." The minute he said that, a claw reached out of the shadows and began to pin Wave Slicer's shadow in place.

"You act like that means anything." Tamotsu said without missing a beat. From up above, something rocky dropped down and slammed on top of the claw, causing whatever was attached to it to scream in agony before the claw faded away.

"Hmm?"

"I activated my facedown: **Frontal Rampart**." Tamotsu explained, pointing to his active Trap. "With this, I was capable of negating your monster effect by Special Summoning a monster from my hand: Rampart Revenant - Front Four!" Benedict got a better look at the creature that had squished Fear Gripper: A large stone coffin of some sort that appeared to have a set of rocky zombie soldiers positioned inside, each soldier holding wide rifles in their hands.

 **Rampart Revenant – Front Four: Lv.4 EARTH Zombie ATK:0/DEF:2000 (Defense Mode)**

After this, Tamotsu flipped for a second time, but it landed on Tails, causing the Generator to backfire. "Shame." Benedict mused. "You should have kept your focus on the generator."

"Not like it matters! Wave Slicer's not in the same column as your monster, so you don't get that power boost!" Kazehana cried.

"That only works when I'm attacked, Curly. Either way… this round goes to you." With a sudden jerk, Wave Slicer turned to smash its side into Dasher, but as it did, the jetstream it rode formed a blade of wind on its side, and with a skilled curve, the blade slashed cleanly across Dasher's entire body, making it roar in pain before exploding, Slicer riding back to Kazehana's field.

However, as Dasher dissolved, a massive cloud of the same dark smoke and mist from the start of the Duel billowed from its remains, engulfing the silo and making Kazehana and Tamotsu shield their eyes. "What the? More of this stuff?" Kazehana cried.

As Shihime and Yuga ran towards the Silo, they too saw the thick fog flowing out of it. "That's the same fog as when the Duel started!" Yuga exclaimed.

Shihime, however, was too focused on the fact that the fog was getting closer. "And it's coming straight at us!"

"Brace yourself!" Yuga shouted as he and his Fusion Dimension friend charged onward. "We're goin' in!" With steeled gazes, the two charged headfirst, disappearing into the dark fog...

* * *

 **Author-Made Cards** _(all Entermate Band monsters are Performapal Bands in TCG)_

Entermate Band Mandoleech  
Level 3 EARTH Insect/Pendulum (Scale Unknown)  
ATK:900/DEF:1200  
Neither Effect Currently Determined

Entermate Band Trumpest  
Level 5 WIND Thunder/Pendulum (Scale Unknown)  
ATK:2050/DEF:1900  
Pendulum Effect: Unknown  
Monster Effect: If you Normal Summon a monster with a different Type than this card: You can Special Summon this card from your hand. Rest of Effects Unconfirmed

Thermal Force – Zulu Ignite  
Level 3 FIRE Psychic  
ATK:1300/DEF:700  
When this card is Normal or Special Summoned: You can add 1 WATER "Thermal Force" monster from your Deck to your hand. You can banish this card from your Graveyard; Special Summon 1 WATER "Thermal Force" monster from your hand. You can only use this effect of " **Thermal Force - Zulu Ignite** " once per turn.

Horizon Gear Featherman  
Level 1 WIND Machine  
ATK:200/DEF:300  
You can discard 1 monster from your hand: Special Summon this card. Once per turn: You can Special Summon 1 Level 1 monster from your Graveyard.

Horizon Gear Accel Board  
Level 1 WIND Machine/Tuner  
ATK:500/DEF:400  
If this card is Special Summoned: You can Special Summon 1 "Horizon Gear" monster from your Deck. If this card is used as a Synchro Material for a non-WIND monster, the other Materials cannot be Level 4 or higher monsters.

Horizon Gear Color Blaster  
Level 2 WIND Machine  
ATK:900/DEF:800  
If this card destroys a monster by battle: Special Summon 1 Level 2 or lower monster from your Deck. During either player's Main Phase: You can banish this card from your Graveyard; immediately after this effect resolves, Synchro Summon 1 Level 7 or lower WIND Synchro Monster OR 1 "Horizon Gear" Synchro Monster, using Materials you control (Quick Effect).

Entermate Band Accordino  
Level 6 DARK Dinosaur/Pendulum (Scale 0)  
ATK:2300/DEF:400  
Pendulum Effect: Unless you have a card in your other Pendulum Zone whose original Type would not be Dinosaur while in a Monster Card Zone, this card's Pendulum Scale becomes 4.  
Monster Effect: If this card is Normal Summoned: Special Summon 1 "Performapal Band" monster from your hand with a different Type.

Entermate Band Bassooboon  
Level 4 WIND Beast/Pendulum (Scale 4)  
ATK:1500/DEF:1500  
Pendulum Effect: If you have another card in your Pendulum Zone whose original Type would not be Beast while in a Monster Card Zone, this card's Pendulum Scale becomes 11, but if you Pendulum Summon using this card, you cannot Pendulum Summon 2 or more monsters with the same Type, and you cannot Special Summon monsters with the same Type as any Pendulum Summoned monsters you control.  
Monster Effect: When this card is Pendulum Summoned: Shuffle a number of cards from your hand into your Deck up to the number of "Performapal Band" monsters you control with different Types, then draw cards equal to the number of cards you shuffled into the Deck. You can only activate this effect of " **Performapal Band Bassooboon** " once per turn.

Entermate Band Vocalong  
Level 8 LIGHT Dragon/Pendulum (Scale 9)  
ATK:2800/DEF:2500  
Neither Effect Currently Determined

Thermal Force – Echo Snow  
Level 2 WATER Psychic  
ATK:600/DEF:800  
You can send this card from your hand or field to the Graveyard, then target 1 FIRE "Thermal Force" monster you control; it cannot be targeted or destroyed by your opponent's card effects until the end of this turn. During either player's turn, when a card or effect is activated that targets a FIRE "Thermal Force" monster(s) you control: You can banish this card from your Graveyard; negate the activation, and if you do, inflict 600 damage to your opponent.

Horizon Gear Spring Leaper  
Level 1 WIND Machine  
ATK:600/DEF:500  
Effects Currently Unconfirmed

Horizon Gear Power Blades  
Level 2 WIND Machine/Tuner  
ATK:100/DEF:800  
Effects Currently Unconfirmed

Fear Gripper (RK777)  
Level 2 DARK Fiend  
ATK:400/DEF:400  
Once per turn, when your opponent declares an attack: You can discard this card from your hand; negate that attack.

Rampart Revenant – Front Four (TCG: Cuatront the Rampart Revenant)  
Level 4 EARTH Zombie  
ATK:0/DEF:2000  
Your opponent cannot target "Rampart Revenant" monsters you control for attacks, except this one. If this card is attacked by a Level/Rank 5 or higher monster: This card gains DEF equal to the attacking monster's Level x 100/Rank x 200 during damage calculation only.

Servant of the Entity - Backwoods Dasher (RK777)  
Level: -4 EARTH Fiend/Dark Synchro  
ATK: 1950/DEF:0  
1 or more non-Dark Tuner monsters – 1 Fiend-Type Dark Tuner  
Once per turn, you can move this card to an unoccupied adjacent Monster Card Zone on your side of the field. If this card attacks an opponent's monster in the same column as this card: This card's ATK becomes 3000 during damage calculation only. If this card destroys a monster in the same column as this card: Destroy all Spell/Trap Cards your opponent controls in that column.

Horizon Gear Rocket Glider  
Level 4 WIND Machine/Synchro  
ATK:2000/DEF:1000  
1 "Horizon Gear" Tuner + 1 or more non-Tuner monsters  
Cannot be destroyed by battle if you control a Tuner monster. If this card was Synchro Summoned using only Level 2 or lower monsters, it gains this effect:  
* This card can attack your opponent directly.

Thermal Force – Victor Variance  
Level 7 EARTH Psychic/Fusion  
ATK:2400/DEF:2200  
1 FIRE "Thermal Force" monster + 1 WATER "Thermal Force" monster  
This card's Attribute is treated as FIRE and WATER, but not EARTH. This effect cannot be negated. Once per turn, if this card battles an opponent's monster: You can activate the following effect depending on the opponent monster's ATK or DEF (respective to its battle position) relative to this card's ATK:  
● Less ATK/DEF: This card inflicts piercing battle damage if it attacks a Defense Position monster, also double any battle damage this card inflicts to your opponent.  
● More ATK/DEF: This card cannot be destroyed by battle, also negate the battle damage, and if you do, this card's ATK becomes equal to the opposing monster's ATK or DEF (respective to its battle position) until the End Phase.

Horizon Gear Drift Diamond  
Level 3 WIND Machine/Synchro/Tuner  
ATK:1100/DEF:300  
1 "Horizon Gear" Tuner + 1 or more non-Tuner monsters  
If a Level 5 or lower Synchro Monster you control, OR a "Horizon Gear" Synchro Monster you control, attacks an opponent's monster: Negate the effects of all monsters your opponent controls until the End Phase.

Horizon Gear Wave Slicer  
Level 7 WIND Machine/Synchro  
ATK:2800/DEF:2200  
1 "Horizon Gear" Tuner + 1 or more non-Tuner "Horizon Gear" monsters  
If this card attacks, your opponent cannot activate Spell/Trap Cards or the effects of Spell/Trap cards until the end of the Damage Step. If this card was Synchro Summoned using only Synchro Monsters as Materials: Effect Currently Unconfirmed

Generator (RK777)  
Action Spell Card  
Toss a coin 4 times or until your result is Tails. If the result is Tails, this card is reset. If the result is 4 Heads, draw until you have 5 cards. You cannot reactivate this Action Card the same turn it is reset.

Power Stack (RK777)  
Normal Spell Card  
Search your Deck for 4 Spell or Trap Cards that can be equipped to a monster you control. Equip them directly to that monster from your Deck; and if you do, the Deck is then shuffled.

Unrelenting Hunter (RK777)  
Equip Spell Card  
Equip only to a "Servant of the Entity". The equipped monster can attack twice. If your opponent only controls monsters that are in Defense Position, the equipped monster can attack your opponent's Life Points directly.

Pulldown Pallet (RK777)  
Action Magic Card  
When your opponent's monster attacks you directly, negate that attack, and change the attacking monster to Defense Position.

Enduring Spirit (RK777)  
Equip Spell Card  
Equip only to a "Servant of the Entity". If, during the Battle Phase, the equipped monster is changed to Defense Position by a card effect; change the equipped monster to Attack Position during your Main Phase 2 only.

Spies from the Shadows (RK777)  
Equip Spell Card  
Equip only to a "Servant of the Entity". While this card is equipped to a monster, your opponent must reveal their hand to you during their turn.

Iron Grasp (RK777)  
Action Spell Card  
Equip one monster your opponent controls to a monster you control until the End Phase of this turn. You cannot attack your opponent directly when you activate this card. If a Trap Card would inflict damage to your Life Points, you can apply the effects of that Trap to your opponent instead.

New Horizon  
Normal Spell Card  
Banish 1 Level 5 or lower Synchro Monster from your Graveyard; Special Summon monsters from your Graveyard whose total Levels equal that monster's Level. You cannot Summon monsters this turn, except WIND monsters.

Distressing (RK777)  
Equip Spell  
Equip only to a "Servant of the Entity". The equipped monster's Level is treated as a Positive Level. All monsters your opponent controls with the same Level or lower cannot attack while this card is equipped to a monster.

Hooked (RK777)  
Action Trap Card  
Half your Life Points, then reset this card. If you activate "Hooked" 3 times, you lose the Duel.

Frontal Rampart  
Counter Trap Card  
If your opponent activates a monster effect: You can Special Summon 1 "Rampart Revenant" monster from your hand, and if you do, negate that effect.

* * *

 **RK777: The heroes have passed the first challenge, but what does are hidden villain have in mind next?**

 **Vile: Let's just hope the guy doesn't edge too close to outright villain territory. Early reviews of this story indicate that the readers think he's going that way.**

 **RK777: You mean the guy who's Cap Lock seemed to be stuck? It's too early for them to judge. And no, this isn't a Revolutionary War reference. Keep guessing to see if you can figure out what game Benedict's Deck is based on. Eva managed to leave some candy for you.**

 **Vile: Assuming this one doesn't eat it all. *holds up an Alolan Vulpix by the tails* Found this little stinker peeking out of a candy bag.**

 **RK777: Keko, I told you, you have to be in costume to get the candy.**

 **Keko: *headtilt* Vul?**

 **Vile: Maybe we should put some aside so she doesn't do that again. Anyway, if you readers liked this story, leave a review for me! This game's not over yet, so stay tuned to see how it turns out. Ja ne for now!**

 **Computer Voice: Vile, logging out.**


	3. Chapter 3

**RK777: *watching Keko and Eva run circles around Miracull like hyper little kids* There's the sugar rush we were waiting for.**

 **Vile: Hopefully these two will be able to get to bed tonight.**

 **RK777: They'll tucker themselves out eventually, Miracull too. Anyway, this was a bother of a chapter.**

 **Vile: Yeah, and to think, there's still two more chapters after this.**

 **RK777: By the grace of God we can do this, V. Let's buckle down!**

 **Vile: You're right. I won't slip behind this time! Let's light this candle. Enjoy, folks!**

* * *

Terror in A New Dimension

Chapter 3

His vision starting to return to him, Yuga blinked a couple times before looking around. To his surprise, with the fog gone, he could see that he and his friends had ended up back at the campfire from the start of the game. "Eh? How the hell'd we get back here?" He wondered.

"Got me." Tamotsu said, the girls just shrugging.

A throat clear came from the darkness, and Benedict walked into view at the edge of the fire's light. "This is where the lost souls wait until the next trial." With a small smile, he gave them a small bit of applause. "I commend you. Fix one Generator, and it only took one turn to defeat the Killer."

 **Benedict LP:15150**

 **Yuga LP: 2000 (Hooked: 1)**

 **Shihime LP: 2000 (Hooked: 1)**

 **Tamotsu LP: 4000**

 **Kazehana LP: 3000**

"I had a feeling it wouldn't be that easy." Shihime commented.

"Like I said before, each time you beat the Killer, the field changes, and I get to bring a new Killer into the challenge." Benedict re-explained. "Once I'm done with my Summon, then it's Tamotsu's turn, then back to me, then Yuga, and the order goes as normal."

"Yeah, I remember that rule now." Tamotsu said, internally second-guessing whether or not they should've agreed to that.

Kazehana, however, had a disappointed pout. "Aw, but I still something I wanted to do."

"Sorry, maybe next time." Benedict said before tossing a new card into the fire, making the smoke it created envelop them again.

Yuga coughed a couple of times as he inhaled the smoke. It may have been Solid Vision, but it was still irritating. "Second verse, same as the first." Yuga mentioned, trying to walk around, but when he took a step, he heard a "squish" and felt his sink into the ground as if it was mud. " ...That didn't sound good." The dark fog finally started to clear, and Yuga could see that he was now in some kind of swampland, and he did not look happy. "Ugh, I hate swamps." He groaned as he plugged his nose. "They stink like hell." Yuga then noticed that once again, he was by himself. "Wonderful." He walked out of the muck and onto drier land, shaking off whatever gunk was on his shoe. "Is it too much to ask to stay with the others for once?" His answer was only silence, making him sigh as he looked around. "Now where do I go?"

Benedict, meanwhile, watched the others look around from a safe distance with a grin, but the grin quickly faded when he saw the size of his hand: A single card. "I can't do anything with this one card. Hope I get something good." He went for his Deck. "Ore no... TURN!" He drew his card, and his grin returned when he saw it. "Magic Card, Rare Benevolence of the Dark Entity, hatsudo. By shuffling a Servant of the Entity monster from my Graveyard back into my Extra Deck, I can draw 2 cards." He shuffled Backwoods Dasher and drew his card, trying to avoid disturbing the cattails around him as he did so. "Shadowman, the Dark Mystic, Shoukan." His monster emerged as a tall, slender man in a sharp but extravagant suit appears, holding a long cane in one hand, tipping his tophat with a small smirk. ** _(A/N: No, people, this guy is NOT Slenderman. :P)_**

 **Shadowman, the Dark Mystic: Lv.3 DARK Spellcaster ATK:800/DEF:500**

"When I Summon him, I can draw 1 card for every monster my opponent controls. Since each of my prey has one face-up monster, I draw 4 cards." Shadowman twirled his cane before firing a black beam at Benedict's Deck, drawing out 4 cards, and the minute he saw one of them, he knew what to do. "Perfect. Magic Card, **Mud-Covered Splinter** , hatsudo." A small piece of wood caked in mud landed in his hand. "With this Offering, I can now Dark Synchro Summon the ghost of this swampland without using a Dark Tuner. All I need is a Level 3 monster to use..." The wooden splinter glowed with a wicked light as it began to hover out of his hand. "The darkness deepens within the mad god's world. Its servant emerges to roam its domain!" The light bathed Shadowman and made him morph into three Level Stars, but the wickedness immediately turned them black, letting them merge together and give off a black flash. "Daaku Shinkuro Shoukan! Rise up! Servant of the Entity - Swamp Hag!" From out of the blackness, a gurgling groan could be heard before a grayish-green creature emerged, its body caked in swamp mud, looking vaguely like a mutilated female body with long claw-like nails on its right hand.

 **Servant of the Entity - Swamp Hag: Lv.-3 WATER Fiend/Dark Synchro ATK:1300/DEF:0**

"Kaado ni mai settei! Turn End!" Two facedowns emerged on Benedict's field.

Tamotsu, still unsure where he was, saw his Duel Disk beep to tell him that it was his turn. "I don't know what he's planning, but I will be ready. Watashi no turn. Draw!" He drew his card. "Ribaasu Shoukan (Reverse Summon)! Rampart Revenant - Stockade Six!" His facedown flipped up to reveal a set of rocky skulls, six in total, being surrounded on all sides by a wall of tightly-packed bones.

 **Rampart Revenant – Stockade Six: Lv.4 EARTH Zombie ATK:0/DEF:1900**

"Stockade Six no kouka hatsudo. When flipped face-up, I can Special Summon a Rampart Revenant Token for each monster my opponent controls, which is only one." In another zone, a single skull emerged before bones orbited it, forming a much smaller wall around it.

 **Rampart Revenant Token: Lv.4 EARTH Zombie ATK:0/DEF:1900 (Defense Mode)**

Tamotsu adjusted his tie. "Watashi wa Reberu Yon no Front Four to Stockade Six de, Obarei (I Overlay the Level 4 Front Four and Stockade Six)!" Both of Tamotsu's monsters turned fully orange before shooting into the air. "Ni tai no monsuta de, Obarei Netwaaku kochiku (With these two monsters, I build the Overlay Network)!" A portal resembling a spiraling galaxy opened up in front of him, and both his monsters sailed inside before the portal let out a burst of light. "Ekushiizu Shoukan (Xyz Summon)!" From out of numerous purple portals, the bones of fallen soldiers gathered together, clumping up along with hard dirt around an orb of spiritual energy. "Stand strong! Ranku Yon (Rank 4)!" Ribbons of eerie white energy billowed from within the mass as it slowly grew larger and larger, but then the white energy began taking more of a humanoid shape, albeit still transparent. A core of red pulsating energy formed within the energy being before dark blue eyes flashed on in the head. "Rampart Revenant - Barricade Zero!" With an echoing groan, the creature seemed to hoist the mass of dirt and bones into the air with both hands, the collection finally finishing with a flash, before it slammed it back into the ground, holding it in front of its body as a large, wide, earthen shield, two Overlay Units orbiting the spirit.

 **Rampart Revenant – Barricade Zero: Rank 4 EARTH Zombie/Xyz ATK:0/DEF:2800 2 Overlay Units**

From a distance, Benedict, who had moved hoping to attack Tamotsu next, saw this, and activated his two Trap Cards without announcing them to get things ready. "Kaado ichi mai settei. Turn end." A facedown emerged on Tamotsu's field as he kept moving on.

Benedict studied what he just saw. "A defensive player. I should have considered that a little more in picking my monster." He shrugged. "Well, can't be helped. Ore no turn. Draw." He drew his card. "First, my Swamp Hag gains a Catalyst Counter." Swamp Hag glowed for a moment before returned to normal. "Magic Card, **Armory Exchange** , hatsudo. I return 4 Equip Cards from my Graveyard to my Deck, shuffle, and draw 2 cards." He did so, getting his new cards. After that, he equipped three cards to his monster. "Now, let's see." He narrowed his eyes as he scanned the field until finding an Action Card. "There." He ran over and grabs it. "Action Magic, **Counter Up** , hatsudo. I can place Counters on any card that gains them, and they are treated as the correct Counters, so my Hag gets 3 more Counters." Hag glowed once more. "Now, I remove one Counter, and target the column to my right." The Hag stooped down and drew a symbol in the ground where it once stood.

In the stands, Yusha and Hoshiko watched, all the more confused at Benedict's actions. "Nani sore? What's he doing?" Yusha asked. "I've never seen that monster before."

"You've likely never seen anything like Benedict's Extra Deck." Zed explained. "His Servants of the Entity work on a Senet strategy."

"'Senet'?" Hoshiko asked. "As in actively using the columns on the field?"

"Right, based on the ancient Egyptian board game. His cards, in different ways, work to control and terrorize the whole field as he sees fit. Each of his Dark Synchros can move to adjacent columns and use their effect to make use of their position. Swamp Hag is different. Twice per turn, by targeting adjacent columns, he's making sure his Hag can instantly teleport from one side to the other."

"Sugee." Yusha exclaimed in awe. "As creepy as this is, his Deck is actually pretty cool."

"Yeah, but what makes things really tough is the fact that he used Hag now." Zed mused. "Dasher attacking in a straight line is now going to make the others want to try and play on different Zones than the Hag, and then Benedict's trap is sprung. As good a Duelist as he is, it's not unbeatable, though. It's his use of their fear that's going to make things worse." At this point, Zed got up from his seat.

"Where are you going?" Hoshiko asked as Zed started leaving his row.

"Just need to use the bathroom. Back in a bit." The Dark Synchro boy said before taking off out of the stadium.

Benedict, meanwhile, had just finished moving his monster from the mid-right Monster Card Zone to the center Monster Card Zone. "This will do for now. I'll just bide my time. Turn End."

Yuga saw the signal for him to start his turn when something vibrated in his pocket. "Eh?" He reached into his pocket and pulled out a vibrating cell phone, which he answered. "Moshi moshi?"

"Find some cover, guys." The voice of Zed said over the phone, which was mixed with small hints of the other 3 also being on the line. "This is a conference call."

Not taking any chances, the four duelists tried to hide as best as they could within the cattails or behind a tree. Kazehana actually managed to find the remains of some kind of trawler boat and ducked into its cabin. "Oh boy." She said, worried. "What did Benedict do now?"

"I'm not telling you guys his strategy if that's what you think," Zed immediately said. "It would go against my pride as a duelist."

Kazehana sweatdropped at that. "That isn't what I meant..."

Zed checked one more time to make sure he was alone in the bathroom before hiding in a stall. "Look, first off, I want to apologize." He went on to say. "Yuga, Shihime, I saw what he did you guys. He told me he was gonna go easy with his power, but it looks like he's just ramping it up to 11. He played me just to get some to your guys. I'm sorry."

"I can tell by the tone of your voice that you're serious. Can't you reign him in?" Shihime asked.

"Not at this point." Zed told her. "Like I told Yusha and Hoshiko, this is his creation, and his not going to stop mid-game just to ease up, especially given the majority of the audience watching this. This was supposed to be something fun for Halloween, and now..."

"It's actually still kinda fun."

Zed, along with Kazehana and Tamotsu all looked at their phones confused at Yuga's response. "Eh?'

"Yeah, he clearly didn't have to go this overboard, but it's all still an illusion in the end, right?"

"It is, and it isn't. While it make not any physical damage other than some muscle soreness, I get the feeling you guys are gonna be having nightmares." Zed mentioned. "But that's the other reason why I called. If he's going to go that far, you're just going to have to play the game his way. And it can be beaten."

"Is that another answer that you're going to keep to yourself, Zed?" Tamotsu asked, a little annoyed but his earlier comment.

"Far from it, Tamotsu. I can't tell you how to beat his Deck, but his illusions are another story."

"Well, spill it, dude!" Kazehana quietly shouted, thinking Benedict might be right outside the trawler. "I don't want a heart attack out here!"

"That's just it, you have to give him what he wants."

"'What he wants'?" In what context?" Shihime asked.

"This game is built around his Deck and the lore within it, in that his monsters are servants of a dark god who feeds on hope. Hence why he gives his victims a chance, he fills them with hope only to see it get ripped away. The maps, the items you'll find in chest, all of it done because the god acts as an impartial third party just to get its fill of hope."

"So what you're saying is… in order to win... We have to make sure the god doesn't take our hope?" Yuga reasoned.

"Exactly. Shihime, no offense, but just acting like it's an illusion and fighting your fear might have just made things worse for you guys."

"What was I supposed to do, let myself be scared?" Shihime huffed, making everyone else in the call think that some of her mom was showing.

"Actually, yeah." Zed replied bluntly, making them all confused. "You can't just treat this like a game. Benedict's powers use your innermost, darkest fears against you; the ones you wouldn't tell anyone about. That's why the hooks feel real, like you're actually being stabbed. He wants you to think you're fighting for your very soul to make you lose hope. If you can't give him that satisfaction, that he is actually putting you in a hopeless situation, then that's just going to make him try harder. Hope only comes when you are ready to face fear, but you can't truly face it until you're in a hopeless situation. Like, say… being trapped in a world with the only escape coming from you repairing the power sources while you are hunted by servants of the world's creator."

Yuga slowly started to put the pieces together in his head. "...I get it. Even if we LOOK afraid, that doesn't mean we've lost. We may have to make him THINK we're afraid, but that's when we show him that we haven't lost hope, right?"

"Pretty much. Treat it like a horror movie." Zed told him. "The killer takes out the rest of the cast, and you are so scared out of your mind that all you can do is hide and hope he doesn't find you, hope you can find some way to escape, or hope you have the strength to beat him at his own game."

"That sounds... hard." Kazehana admitted.

"You'll find a way, guys. I know you will. I better get back, more than likely someone's figure out I'm coaching you guys right now. Remember, play the game his way, and I'll see you guys when it's over." With that, Zed hung up, prompting the others to do the same.

"Not lose hope, huh?" Yuga wondered, sliding his phone back into his pocket. "Well, I know one thing: We still have a chance to win this Duel. After all, as Tou-san would say: 'The fun has just begun.'" Deciding to get back on track, he surveyed the area around him. "Let's see..." He then noticed a chest not too far away. "Yosh! Maybe something good's in there!" He ran over and flung the lid open to find an Action Card, but as he reached for it, hesitation started to show itself. _'Please don't be a hook...'_ He mentally wished as he picked it up and flipped it around, finding it to be a Magic Card. "Yosh! This'll come in handy! Action Magic, **Flashlight** , hatsudo!" A large flashlight appeared and landed in Vocalong's hand as Yuga read the card to try and memorize the effect. "'Place 4 Flash Counters on a monster, remove one once per turn to negate an attack.' Simple enough." Yuga then pulled out his phone again and sent a text to the others.

 _Start looking for items in those chests. -Yuga_

"Alright. Now, Vocalong's tough enough to handle whatever Benedict might have, but I better make sure I can protect her. Ore no turn! Draw!" Yuga drew his card. "Magic Card, Magical Pendulum Box, hatsudo! I draw 2 cards, and if they're Pendulum Monsters, I can keep them!" He drew his card and flipped them over: 2 Pendulum Monsters. "Yosh! Let's turn up the music again! Pendyuramu Shoukan!" As the portal opened up again, two more beams of light descended. "Entermate Band Pianferno! Entermate Band Dolfiddle!" One beam of light burst into flames before revealing a burning humanoid, clad in the same bright clothes and headphones which were obviously fireproof, playing a strange piano made of molten rock, a small flame jet coming from within after each note. The other beam was broken by the sound of very talented fiddle playing, the fiddle in question actually being made of seashells with a piece of coral for the bow, being held by a feminine anthropomorphic dolphin with the same clothes and headphones, but also a cowboy hat and cowboy boots for exact accents, stomping her foot once to end her song.

 **Entermate Band Pianferno: Lv.5 FIRE Pyro/Pendulum ATK:2200/DEF:200**

 **Entermate Band Dolfiddle: Lv.4 WATER Fish/Pendulum ATK:1700/DEF:1100**

Benedict had managed to sneak up on Yuga while he was using his phone, and as he watched from far enough to not alert Yuga, he scowled. "Bah, too high." He retreated back into the cattails and found an Action Card. "Good. Action Magic, **Sidestep**. I move Swamp Hag to the left one column." Swamp Hag stumbled to her new spot in the mid-left Monster Card Zone, and after she did, Benedict picked up another Action Card. "Action Magic, **Once More With Feeling** , hatsudo! This lets me reactivate Swamp Hag's effect despite it not being my turn." His monster bent down and drew her marks on the far left and center columns next to her, with Yuga none the wiser of what was going on.

"Hopefully these guys can handle this." Yuga mused. "Turn end."

Elsewhere, Kazehana had left the wretched trawler, and carefully watched where she walked as she moved through the swamplands, keeping her eyes sweeping as she looked for Action Cards. Suddenly, a voice came from behind her. "Kaze-chan!"

Kazehana jumped from the sudden shout and spun around, then breathed in ease when she saw that it was just Shihime. "Hime-chan. You startled me."

"Gomen. I'm just lucky I saw you doing that weird walk of yours." Shihime said with a slight laugh.

"I was trying to keep from making a sound. I don't think Benedict knows where we are, so I'm trying to be as sneaky as possible."

"Good idea."

"Have you seen any chests around here?" Kazehana asked, looking around. "I'm trying to find Action Cards."

"No, but we can check there." Shihime replied, pointing ahead of them. Kazehana looked where she was pointing, seeing an old steam paddle boat that had run aground on the swamp's land, now reduced to an old wreck.

Kazehana gulped at the creepy relic of the past. "Hime... hold me?"

Shihime walked up, placing a supporting hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry, Kaze. I'm right next to you."

"Arigatou. You know, as wild as I can be, this game is starting to get to me, I think." Sighing, Kazehana and Shihime slowly approached the boat, boarding it by climbing onto the wreckage of the bow. The boards creaked under their feet as they walked, and Shihime felt bugs fly around her, having to swat them away.

Upon entering a door, the girls found themselves in what looked like an old bar area: Tables with rotted wood, a drink counter with shelves of long-since-expired liquor behind it, and even an old piano with cobwebs attached to the strings within. "Man, talk about detailed." Shihime mused, her Disk beeping to indicate that it was her turn again.

Kazehana suddenly stopped. "Wait a minute, I just thought of something."

"What is it, Kaze?" Shihime asked, confused.

"A boat like this just might have the Generator on it." The blonde said. "I think the Generators might be connected to other places that might need power. Like that tree you and Yuga went to."

Shihime thought about it for a moment, and she remembered that the "tree" had a bunch of lighting apparatuses around them, likely so the sicko actually using the tree could see what they were doing. "Hmm... That actually makes a lot of sense. Let's keep looking."

"You look around here, I'll check on the deck." Kazehana said with a nod from Shihime as the two separated. Shihime walked around the drink counter of the bar and ended up finding something: A downward-leading staircase, and from the top, she could see familiar dim lighting. The Basement.

Even though she knew what was down there, Shihime started to sweat and shake as she remembered feeling the effects Benedict created earlier. _'Keep it together, girl. You know what's down there.'_ She thought to herself. _'You're not going to make the same mistake Yuga did.'_ She slowly began to walk down the steps. _'I'm letting his creep get to me. But why? Even Zed said this is an illusion, so why is this still getting to me? Maybe... Maybe it's because he mentioned Papa? I mean, there's no way he'd know I'm a little afraid of what people say he was like in the past, but even so, Papa's not that kind of man anymore. I…'_ Realization hit her of just how far she was going, making her shake her head to snap out of her funk. "You're over thinking this, Shihime." She said out loud to herself before noticing the chest. "Just like Zed said, keep hope alive and play Benedict's game." She walked over to the chest, knelt down, and took a deep breath. "Let's see what we get." She opened the chest to find a card inside, which she grabbed: A Magic Card. "This will be a big help. Action Magic, **Medkit** , hatsudo!" A medkit dropped from the sky and landed in Victor Variance's hands, or rather cannons, as he had to cross his arms to carry it. "Think you can handle that, big guy?" Victor Variance nodded, making each cannon retreat into a high-tech gauntlet so he could hold the medkit properly.

"Hime, I found the Generator." Kazehana said from upstairs. "But there's a problem."

"What is it, Kaze?" Shihime asked as she and Victor started climbing the stairs.

As she reached the top, she found Kazehana standing in front of the Generator. "There's 8 coins when there should be 4."

Coming out onto the deck, Shihime looked on top of the machine, and sure enough, there were twice as many coins as she remembered, making her scratch her head. "This is weird..."

"And read the card." Kazehana showed her the card version. "It still only says "4" on it. What's going on?"

Shihime crossed her arms in thought for a moment. "…I have a hunch." She brought up a field readout on her Duel Disk, and her face scrunched. "I thought so. He can hide on the field all he wants, but he can't hide his moves. He's got a Trap active."

"What's it do?" Kazehana asked.

Shihime read the card's text. " **Dark Hex of Ruination**. Gain a Totem Counter when activated. Equip to a "Servant of the Entity" monster. If the opponent activates a card effect that requires a coin toss, double the number of results needed to activate that card's effects."

Kazehana facepalmed. "Ah, MOU! We already have to deal with lousy luck! Now we gotta deal with this?"

"It gets worse. It can't be destroyed. So, the only way to negate it is to get rid of the Counter on it."

"How are we supposed to do that? There's almost no cards in the game that deal with Counters!"

"My guess? Action Cards." Shihime sighed, looking at the Generator. "Well, we already have this activated, you might as well just do it, Kaze-chan."

"H-Hai. Can you look for another Action Card?" Kazehana asked.

Shihime nodded. "I should tell the guys about this, too."

"Just don't end your turn yet. If he's close, we could use your guys' firepower."

"Hai. Good luck, Kaze-chan."

"I'm gonna need it."

Shihime then walked off the deck of the ship and looked around, texting the boys of what was up. As she did, she looked up to see a light not too far off in the distance. "Either that's the one Yuga did earlier, or they may already know."

Meanwhile, Tamotsu approached a strange open structure build on stilts to stall about the swampland. As he climbed a ramp up, he saw it had cages full of bones and mummified corpses, human ones at that, making him recoil slightly. "Jeez, this area is disgusting." At that moment, his phone buzzed. "Eh?" Pulling out his phone, he saw that he had a new message. "Shihime." He checked the text.

 _Benedict has a Trap that makes fixing the Generators harder. Look for an Action Card that gets rid of Counters. –Shihime_

"Counter removal, huh? This guy really is stepping up his game." Tamotsu mused, but as if on cue, he felt his heart begin to race from Benedict's familiar power.

Then, Tamotsu starts to feel his heart race. "Kuso... He certainly likes to make an entrance."

"Welcome to the Pantry, where cannibals kept their prisoners before torturing and cooking them." Benedict explained.

His exposition made Tamotsu shudder. "I so didn't need to know that."

"No? Well, you'll soon join the bodies in the corner there." As Benedict said that, something began to knock on the floorboards underneath Tamotsu, making him look down.

"N-Nani?" He wondered. In addition to the knocking, a gurgling snarl came from underground. Tamotsu, clearly afraid but also trying to keep his head, slowly backstepped away from the area.

"Nowhere to run, little sausage." Benedict chuckled, but before anything could actually happen, a loud generator backfire was heard. "So… they're at the boat. I'll deal with you later."

Slowly, Tamotsu began to feel his heartbeat return to normal as the knocking and snarling faded away. Falling back into a nearby chair, he took a deep breath. "What on Earth was that... creature that I heard?" He then looked to where he heard the backfire. "I'd better go give some backup."

*Meanwhile*

"Kuso! I technically had that!" Kazehana shouted, stomping her foot while Shihime looked for an Action Card.

"5 Heads, and then Tails just has to show up." Shihime groaned. "Where is a Counter-cleaning card when you NEED it?"

"Like most Action Cards, it's not going to be easy to find." Kazehana mused. "I bet he's coming this way right now."

As if on cue, a slight on-edge feeling began to well up in their hearts. "Speak of the devil." Shihime said.

"So, you discovered my Ruin Hex." Benedict mused from the darkness. "But you don't know the terrors my monsters can still inflict on you."

Shihime took a card from my hand. "Then I should prepare. Magic Card, **Thermal Fusion** , hatsudo! This card lets me Fusion Summon a monster with monsters in my Graveyard as well as my hand and field, so long as I only use FIRE and WATER monsters as Materials! I Fuse Echo Snow from my Graveyard with **Kilo Chill** in my hand!" Against the background of Polymerization, Echo Snow re-emerged alongside a woman with light blue hair, the same red-and-blue police uniform, and a weapon that resembled a flamethrower but was instead attached to a canister of liquid nitrogen. The two monsters fully turned two different shades of blue before melding together with a flash of light. "Yuugou Shoukan!" A powerful swirl of snow and ice came from out of the merger, taking a large form of ice before shattering, revealing a giant man with plenty of blue facial hair and even two noticeable teeth, making him resemble a walrus. "Ideyo, Reberu Hachi (Level 8)! Thermal Force - Tango Tundra!" His red-and-blue police uniform was largely blue, and attached to the ice energy generator on his back was a giant axe with a cold-infused blade, which he slammed on the ground.

 **Thermal Force – Tango Tundra: Lv.8 WATER Psychic/Fusion ATK:2600/DEF:1200**

"Kilo Chill no kouka hatsudo!" An image of the icethrower-wielding monster appears, infusing her energy into Victor Variance's energy packs. "Since I sent it to the Graveyard for a card effect, Victor Variance, who has more than one Attribute, gains 1500 Attack Points." Both energy generators flared up, making Variance let out a powerful yell.

 **Victor Variance ATK:3900**

"Medkit no kouka hatsudo. By using 2 Med Counters, I can recover both mine and Kaze-chan's Life Points by half of Variance's ATK." Opening the kit, Victor Variance started pulling out bandages and antiseptic, using the supplies to patch up any minor injuries that Shihime and Kazehana had incurred.

 **Shihime LP:3950**

 **Kazehana LP:4950**

"Hmhmhmhm...Foolish girl." Benedict said as a gargling snarl suddenly came from behind her.

"Nanda?" Shihime cried. From out of the murky waters, Swamp Hag leapt up and clung onto Tundra's back, biting down on one of his shoulders and making him groan in pain, the entire show freaking Shihime out. "Waaah! What the hell is that?!"

"The Swamp Hag, a victim of cannibals now turned into a feral hunter herself." Benedict explained. "With her Blackened Symbols, she is able to make clones of mud pop up to surprise her prey, or take their place and feast upon them. In game terms, the moment you Summoned your monster to that targeted column, I was able to move my Hag to that column and reduce your monster's Attack Points by 600. Additionally, when my Hag activates her effect, it triggers this Equip Magic on her. **Disfigured Ear** , hatsudo! This grants my Hag an additional 700 Attack Points when she teleports, and thanks to the Equip Magic **Tinkerer** , she gains 500 more Attack Points because of that gain." Tundra's grip on his axe loosened from the sudden chomp as Hag let out another gurgling snarl.

 **Tango Tundra ATK:2000**

 **Swamp Hag ATK:2500**

From his safe distance from the action, Benedict closed his eyes for a moment as if listening, then looked at two Action Cards just out of reach. "Scared yet, Princess?" He asked as he started moving towards the cards, Hag jumping off Tundra's back. "Still think I'm just playing a game?"

Shihime was about to answer "yes", but then she remembered what Zed told her. Deciding to play along, she instead gulped. "...N-No, I think you proved your p-point."

"Hehe, that's better." The scary alterations of Benedict's voice faded a little, showing more of his dark playfulness. "I know you got a little outside help. While seeing you struggle against your own fears makes it all the better for my enjoyment, you playing along will help you to a point."

"Yeah, I'd rather not come out of this with a heart attack." Shihime mused.

Benedict's tone turned mocking. "Aw, is the princess too good to handle her own worst fear? What would Papa think?"

His remake almost caused Shihime to get angry, but Kazehana saw her and quickly spoke up. "Come on, Hime-chan... Don't let him make you mad..."

"Don't act so tough, curly-top. You're next for the Entity."

Shihime sighed. "I'm not going to draw this out. Victor Variance, attack his Swamp Hag!" Tossing the Medkit into the air, Variance reformed his cannons before charging two blasts of elemental energy.

Seeing the attack coming, Benedict snagged one of the Action Cards. "Action Magic, **Murky Reagent,** hatsudo!" The mist on the ground became thicker, and Swamp Hag seemed to actually duck down into it, causing Variance to lose sight of his target.

"An Action Card?" Kazehana wondered.

"One keeps me safe. Until the end of this turn, my monster cannot be attacked." Benedict explained, making Variance cancel the charge and retract his cannons so he could catch the Medkit. "This is my world, and I know how to use it. For example, let me see what you're hiding. Equip Magic, **Entity's Whispers** , hatsudo! Reveal your facedown to me!" Shihime seethed as her facedown flipped up, revealing it was **Thermal Mirage**. "I see. Now, since my Hag gains a Counter during each standby phase, I'll spend one to target the column she's standing." A new sigil was drawn where Swamp Hag used to be, making Benedict scoff. "You know, it's almost funny how I seem to be doing more on your turn than on mine."

"Maybe because your Deck is overpowered..." Kazehana groaned while looking away in annoyance.

"Don't worry, Curly, you'll get yours soon enough."

Shihime seethed. "Why can't it just stay visible? Turn end!" With the turn over, Murky Reagent's effects faded, causing Hag to reappear from the mist.

 **Swamp Hag ATK:1300**

"Hime-chan, work on the Generator. I'll see what I can do!" Kazehana told her friends. "Boku no turn! Draw!" She drew her card.

"Yeah, maybe my luck will be better against 8 flips." Shihime said as she walked over to the Generator.

"I wouldn't be so sure." Benedict mused as he picked up the other Action Magic Card that was nearby.

"Wave Slicer, attack his Swamp Hag!" Slicer revved up its engine and charged through the jetstream, but as Kazehana watched it charge, Kazehana looked to her right and notices something: There was a blobby mass of slime and tentacles nearby. "Eh?!" Checking her Duel Disk's screen, she saw that it was a Token Monster on HER field. "When did that...?"

"You shouldn't be so quick, Curly." Benedict spoke up. "Just before you entered your Battle Phase, I played the Action Magic, **Shadow Virus**. It Special Summons a Shadow Virus Token to your side of the field if I control a Dark Synchro Monster." The blobby mass didn't really react to Benedict's words.

 **Shadow Virus Token: Lv.1 DARK Fiend/Token ATK:0/DEF:0**

"And since a monster was Special Summoned to your field, Swamp Hag no kouka hatsudo!" Hag dissolved into the murk only to reappear in the same area as the Token, but this time, when the monster bit down on it, the mass exploded and left behind black vapors. "Thanks to this, my Swamp Hag gets her power boost back."

"Your monster still has less Attack Points!" Kazehana cried.

 **Swamp Hag ATK:2500**

 **Wave Slicer ATK:2800**

"You should have paid attention. When a Shadow Virus Token is targeted by an effect, it's automatically destroyed, and your monster loses 500 Attack Points." The virus's lingering effects corrupted the jetstream that Wave Slicer was causing, making it buckle from turbulence.

 **Wave Slicer ATK:2300**

"Kuso!"

"Rip it to shreds, Swamp Hag!" As Wave Slicer drew closer, Hag leapt up and knocked the rider off with a flying kick, chasing after it before ripping it apart with her claws and teeth. As the rider exploded from the attack, its vehicle careened into a tree and exploded on impact.

 **Kazehana LP:4750**

Kazehana's hands were twitching into clenched fists at this. "Why...? How does he keep finding this stuff?!" She screamed, grabbing and lightly pulling her hair. "It's so frustrating!"

"Don't you get it? This is my game!" Benedict retorted. "I created it, and I played it more times than I can count! I've memorized the likely locations of EVERY Action Card! You'd need an insane amount of luck to not become sacrifices to the Entity!"

"That doesn't make you unbeatable!" Kazehana growled. "In a Duel, there's always a chance to be overtaken!"

"This isn't a Duel, it's a game of survival! And I have the edge!"

At that moment, the Generator that Shihime was working on backfired. "Piece of garbage!" The girl groaned.

"Hmhmhmhm... You see now?" Benedict chuckled. "Whispers shows me what you're hiding, Tinkerer adds more to my monster's strength, and Hex of Ruination makes your chances of fixing that generator near non-existent."

"At least until you lose your power source."

"Nani?" Benedict heard the floorboards creak as something approached the girls, startling them, but relief came over them as they saw it was Tamotsu. "So you found your way here. You followed the Generator, didn't you?"

"It was simple enough." Tamotsu said, looking at Kazehana. "Finish your turn, Kaze. I can handle this." He then looked to Shihime. "Hime, wait for my signal, then start working on the Generator again."

"Confident, aren't you?" Benedict mused. "Well, that will only get you so far."

"You sure about this, Tamotsu?" Kazehand asked.

Tamotsu nodded in response. "I found what we need."

Kazehana looked back at Shihime, who nodded, and then she nodded herself. "...Hai. Good luck, Tamotsu. Kaado ichi mai settei." A facedown appeared on her field. "Turn end!"

 **Swamp Hag ATK:1300**

Benedict watched this exchange from his hiding place, very skeptical. "I don't know what good you think you'll do. Your monster's in Defense Mode." He said as he started inching towards a nearby Action Card.

Rather than directly responds, however, Tamotsu held up an Action Card of his own, tapping it twice before playing it. "Action Magic, hatsudo. **Cleanse Totem**!" A strange wooden doll with wings made of actual feathers (probably plucked bird feathers) emerged.

Benedict heard the card name and immediately stopped, his eyes wide. "Nani? You actually found it?"

"It took some doing, but I did find your weakness." Tamotsu replied. "This card removes all Counters from a card you control, so your Ruin Hex won't plague us anymore."

"Yosh! Good find, Tamotsu!" Kazehana chirped.

Benedict clicked his tongue. "I'd think carefully if I were you, because Ruination isn't the only Hex I have. Or has the princess not noticed that her ace is a Normal Monster now?" This made both Tamotsu and Shihime "Eh?" in response. "Take a look."

Shihime looked at her monster through her Disk's screen, and to her surprise, the box where her monster's effect should've been was now blank. "Eh?! How did that happen?"

"The effect of my Trap, **Dark Hex of the Third Seal**. While it has a Totem Counter, if my monster attacks you, one of your monsters becomes a non-Effect monster with its effects sealed. It also activates if Swamp Hag uses its effect."

Tamotsu seethed, looking back and forth between the visible effects of the cards on his screen. "Damn it... If I remove the Ruin Hex, Hime-chan could be left defenseless. If I help her monster, these generators will be near-impossible to fix!"

"What's worse is if you summon a monster, or I give you a Token, I can more than guarantee that your monster is going to be useless to you." Benedict said, making Tamotsu groan. "So, what will you choose: The Generator... or your monsters?"

"How about both, tough guy?"

Hearing the voice that was right near him, Benedict quickly spun around and was shocked to see Yuga standing right behind him. "How did you find me?"

"You weren't exactly silent, dude. I heard what you guys were talking about with that Totem card." Yuga said, holding up an Action Card. "Look what I found." He activated the card, revealing it to be a second copy of Cleanse Totem.

"B-B-Bakana!" Benedict cried, utterly dumbfounded. "You found another Cleanse Totem?!"

"What, did you think there was only one out here? That's not how Action Cards work." Yuga said with a smirks. "Since I found the other one, both mine and Tamotsu's cards cause both of your cards to lose their Counters!" Benedict's Totems, made of skulls and bones with a small candle on the top, visibly appeared near them, only for the two Cleanse Totems' wings to flap and blow out the candles, causing the Hex Totems to crumble into nothingness.

"Arigatou, Yuga! That's a big help!" Tamotsu cried before looking at Shihime and the Generator, noticing that 4 of the coins had disappeared. "Yosh. You're all set to go, Hime."

"Wakatta (Got it), Tamo-kun!" Shihime replied before starting on the Generator.

"Now, let's prepare for the next stage. Watashi no turn. Draw!" Tamotsu drew his card. "Rampart Revenant - Battery Three, Shoukan!" Earth gathered together in front of Tamotsu to form a wall with three slots in it, the slots being filled by cannons manned by zombie-like figures and having skulls for the cannons' back openings.

 **Rampart Revenant – Battery Three: Lv.4 EARTH Zombie ATK:1900/DEF:500**

"Battery Three no kouka hatsudo. By releasing a Rampart Revenant monster, Battery Three might be the only monster on my field that can attack this turn, but that monster's Defense Points are added to its Attack Points until the turn's end!" The Token spawned by Stockade Six flew toward the soldiers before sending the bones orbiting it to the two on the sides, the skull being caught by the middle soldier. Opening the mouths of the skull cannons, all the bones were inserted before the cannons closed with the skulls "chewing" the bones, their eyes glowing orange.

 **Battery Three ATK:3800**

Benedict frantically checked the field readout and started to sweat a bit. "Masaka! He Summoned in a Zone I didn't mark!" Hag let out a worried screech.

"It pays to be observant. Battery Three, ready your cannons!" Each of the three soldiers started fiddling with the cannons before squarely aiming them at Swamp Hag. Then... nothing. Tamotsu just stood there, as if waiting for something. Kazehana was a bit confused, but Tamotsu gestured toward Shihime, who was on the final coin for the Generator.

"One more..." She said before flipping the coin… only for it to land on Tails. "KUSO!"

Benedict let out a loud laugh. "So much for your little plan!"

"Through the effect of **Toolbox,** I remove one Part Counter from Barricade Zero to let Shihime redo that coin toss!" Tamotsu cried as Barricade Zero retracted some of the earth in its shield to reveal a toolbox, making Benedict give a loud "EHHHH?!" in response. "I found it at the same time I found Cleanse Totem. Helps take some of the luck out of the equation." A bit of the spiritual energy that formed Zero's body seemingly possessed one of the tools in the box, flinging it to Shihime who caught it out of the air.

The tool turned into another coin, which Shihime flipped, getting Heads. "Yosh! Power on!" She chirped as the Generator slowly began to whir to life, eventually achieving a full-power state.

 **Generators Powered: 2**

When it did, though, not only did some of the old lights of the ship turn on, but the ship's horn even blared loudly. "Eh? Was the Generator attached to the ship or something?" Yuga wondered.

"It's a nice effect however it works." Tamotsu mused. "Now it's my turn! Battle Phase! Battery Three, attack Swamp Hag!" Their aim locked onto their target, the soldiers all grabbed the ropes on the ends of the cannons. "Fire!" With a pull of each rope, the cannons were fired, launching cannonballs made out of the bones and skull of the Token. The bone shots struck Hag first, managing to blow her arms clean off and distract her just long enough for the skull to impact her head, exploding on contact and engulfing her. From her wounds, the black fog poured out and engulfed all 5 Duelists once more, taking them away from this dark swamp.

* * *

 **Author-Made Cards**

Shadowman, the Dark Mystic (RK777)  
Level 3 DARK Spellcaster/Effect  
ATK:800/DEF:550  
When this card is Normal Summoned while you control no monsters and have less than 5 cards in your hand: Draw 1 card for each monster your opponent controls.

Rampart Revenant – Stockade Six (TCG: Sixtock the Rampart Revenant)  
Level 4 EARTH Zombie  
ATK:0/DEF:1900  
If this card is Special Summoned in face-up Defense Position or flipped face-up: Special Summon 1 "Rampart Revenant Token" (Zombie-Type/EARTH/Level 4/ATK:0/DEF:1900) in Defense Position for each monster your opponent controls. If a "Rampart Revenant" monster you control is attacked, your opponent cannot activate cards or effects until the end of the Damage Step.

Entermate Band Pianferno  
Level 5 FIRE Pyro/Pendulum (Scale Unknown)  
ATK:2200/DEF:200  
Pendulum Effect: Unconfirmed  
Monster Effect: Once per turn: You can inflict 400 damage to your opponent for each Type of monster you control. Rest of Effects Unconfirmed

Entermate Band Dolfiddle  
Level 4 WATER Fish/Pendulum (Scale Unknown)  
ATK:1700/DEF:1100  
Neither Effect Currently Determined

Thermal Force – Kilo Chill  
Level 3 WATER Psychic  
ATK:1100/DEF:1200  
This card gains 500 ATK for each FIRE "Thermal Force" monster you control. If this card is sent to the Graveyard by a card effect: You can target 1 monster you control that is treated as more than 1 Attribute; it gains 1500 ATK.

Rampart Revenant – Battery Three (TCG: Batthree the Rampart Revenant)  
Level 4 EARTH Zombie  
ATK:1900/DEF:0  
Once per turn: You can Tribute 1 "Rampant Revenant" monster you control; increase this card's ATK by the original DEF of the Tributed monster, but if you do, monsters other than this card cannot attack this turn.

Servant of the Entity - Swamp Hag (RK777)  
Level -3 WATER Fiend/Dark Synchro  
ATK:1300/DEF:0  
1 non-Dark Tuner monster - 1 Dark Tuner Monster  
Once per turn: You can move this card to an adjacent unoccupied Monster Card Zone on your side of the field. Once per turn, during each Standby Phase: Place 1 Catalyst Counter on this card. Up to twice per turn, you can remove 1 Catalyst Counter from this card and target this card's column or a column adjacent to this card: If your opponent summons a monster to that targeted column, move this card to that column and reduce the summoned monster's ATK and DEF by 600.

Rampart Revenant – Barricade Zero  
Rank 4 EARTH Zombie/Xyz  
ATK:0/DEF:2800  
2 Level 4 "Rampart Revenant" monsters  
This card's ATK cannot be higher than 0. While this card has Xyz Material, face-up Defense Position "Rampart Revenant" monsters you control cannot be targeted by your opponent's card effects. Once per turn, if a "Rampart Revenant" monster you control is attacked: You can detach 1 Xyz Material from this card; negate the attack, and if you do, the attacking monster's ATK becomes 0 until your next End Phase.

Thermal Force – Tango Tundra  
Level 8 WATER Psychic/Fusion  
ATK:2600/DEF:1200  
2 WATER "Thermal Force" monsters  
Effects Currently Unconfirmed

Grimwater Swamplands (RK777)  
Action Field Spell Card  
You can use Action Cards, but you can only have 1 Action Card in your hand.

Rare Benevolence of the Entity (RK777)  
Normal Spell Card  
Shuffle 1 "Servant of the Entity" monster from your Graveyard into your Extra Deck; draw 2 cards.

Mud-Covered Splinter (RK777)  
Normal Spell Card  
If there are no Dark Synchro Monsters in your Graveyard: Tribute 1 Level 3 monster you control; Special Summon 1 "Servant of the Entity - Swamp Hag" from your Extra Deck, then banish this card and the Tributed monster. (This Special Summon is treated as a Dark Synchro Summon.) You can only activate 1 "Splinter" Spell Card per turn.

Armory Exchange (RK777)  
Normal Spell Card  
Shuffle 4 Equip Spell Cards from your Graveyard into your Deck; draw 2 cards.

Tinkerer (RK777)  
Equip Spell Card  
Equip only to a "Servant of the Entity" monster. If a card effect, except this card's effect, increases the equipped monster's ATK and/or DEF: Increase the equipped monster's ATK and/or DEF (whichever stat was increased) by 500.

Counter Up (RK777)  
Action Spell Card  
Target 1 monster you control that can have Counters placed on it for an effect: Place 3 Counters on that card. These Counters are treated as the Counters required for that monster's effect.

Flashlight (RK777)  
Action Spell Card  
Place 4 Flash Counters on a monster you control. Once per turn, when your opponent declares an attack: You can remove 1 Flash Counter from a monster you control; negate the attack.

Sidestep (RK777)  
Action Spell Card  
Move 1 monster you control to an adjacent unoccupied Monster Card Zone.

Once More With Feeling (RK777)  
Action Spell Card  
Target 1 monster you control with an effect that can only be activated on your turn: Activate that monster's effect. You can only activate "Once More With Feeling" once per turn.

Medkit (RK777)  
Action Spell Card  
Place 4 Med Counters on a monster you control. Once per turn, you can remove target 1 Med Counter from a monster you control and target 1 monster you control; you gain LP equal to half that monster's ATK or DEF (whichever is higher).

Disfigured Ear (RK777)  
Equip Spell Card  
Equip only to "Servant of the Entity - Swamp Hag". Once per turn, if the equipped monster moves to a Monster Card Zone that was targeted by its own effect, it gains 700 ATK until the End Phase. You can only control 1 "Disfigured Ear".

Murky Reagent (RK777)  
Action Spell Card  
Target 1 monster you control: It cannot be targeted for attacks this turn.

Entity's Whispers (RK777)  
Equip Spell Card  
Equip only to a "Servant of the Entity" monster. You can use each of the following effects once per turn, depending on whose turn it is:  
* Your turn: Flip 1 face-down monster on the field face-up, and if you do, negate that monster's effects. (Flip effects are not activated at this time.)  
* Your opponent's turn: Reveal 1 facedown card on your opponent's field.

Shadow Virus (RK777)  
Action Spell Card  
Special Summon 1 "Shadow Virus Token" (Fiend-Type/DARK/Level 1/ATK 0/DEF 0) to either side of the field in Attack Position. If this Token is targeted by a card effect: Destroy it, and if you do, any monsters in zones adjacent to that Token lose 600 ATK and DEF.

Cleanse Totem (RK777)  
Action Spell Card  
Remove 1 Counter from a Spell or Trap Card on your opponent's side of the field.

Toolbox (RK777)  
Action Spell Card  
Place 4 Part Counters on a monster you control. Once per turn, when you toss a coin: You can remove 1 Part Counter to redo that coin toss. If you would lose LP through the effect of a Trap Card: You can remove 2 Part Counters; negate and destroy that Trap Card.

Dark Hex of Ruination (RK777)  
Continuous Trap Card  
When this card is activated, equip it to a "Servant of the Entity" you control; and if you do, place 1 Totem Counter on this card. (max. 1) While this card has a Totem Counter on it, double the amount of results needed to activate the effects of a Spell or Trap Card that require a coin toss. This card cannot be destroyed as long as it has a Totem Counter on it.

Dark Hex of the Third Seal (RK777)  
Continuous Trap Card  
Equip to a "Servant of the Entity" you control, and if you do, place 1 Totem Counter on this card. (max. 1) This card cannot be destroyed as long as it has a Totem Counter on it. While this card has a Totem Counter on it, if the equipped monster attacked or was attacked this turn, you can target 1 monster your opponent controls: Negate its effects until your next Standby Phase. If this card is equipped to "Servant of the Entity - Swamp Hag", you can activate this effect when the equipped monster moves to a targeted column by its own effect.

* * *

 **Vile: The game is getting more intense with each passing section, but trust me, it's nowhere near over. Rocket Knight's putting our Pokemon companions to bed right now, so not much after this chapter. Still, if you guys liked this chapter, leave a review for me and stay tuned for more. These chapters tend to be rather down to the wire, so it's required a lot more effort from me than I've shown in a while. ...And I like getting that level of effort back. *hears a crash***

 **RK777: *off-screen* Darn it, Keko! Don't make me chase you!**

 **Vile: *sweatdrop* ...I kinda figured it wouldn't have been easy. I'd better help him with those little stinkers. Ja ne for now!**

 **Computer Voice: Vile, logging out.**


	4. Chapter 4

**RK777: I'm giving her all she's got, Cap'n! She can't take much more!**

 **Vile: Keep yourself on course, sailor! We're almost to the end! *notices the readers* Oh, hey guys! Sorry about this, it's not easy keeping this story going quick enough to actually be released on time.**

 **RK777: The last chapter in partic is being difficult. Please excuse any spelling and grammar in this chapter as we had to speed read it to be in on time but EST standards.**

 **Vile: Yeah, and we had to cut out a segment as seen at the end. It'll be there with a later update, trust us.**

 **RK777: And if you're reading this after all issues are fixed, please don't comment about how there's nothing wrong now.**

 **Vile: Yeah, updates can really screw with people, so we decided to cover both past and future versions. Also, quick note to the Delphox review (I forget your full name): Benedict the Duelist is not based on Benedict Arnold. The hint to this game's basis is that it's a horror video game. See if you can figure it out from there. Without further ado, enjoy, everyone!**

* * *

Terror in A New Dimension

Chapter 4

 **Benedict LP:12650**

 **Yuga LP:2000 (Hooked: 1)**

 **Shihime LP:3950 (Hooked: 1)**

 **Kazehana LP:4200**

 **Tamotsu LP:4000**

"And here we are again." Shihime sarcastically remarked as the group found themselves at the campfire again after the fog clears.

"I don't know about you guys, but it's kinda nice ending up back here each time." Yuga said with a smile. "It's peaceful here."

"A calm before the storm that is about to come." Benedict's voice said from behind them, making them jump and spin around to see him there.

Kazehana was the first one to come out of Benedict's little jumpscare, though, as she overflowed with energy. "I'm feeling good about this, though. Yeah, I was scared out of my mind, but the comeback was awesome!"

" Just wait." Benedict told them. "You 4 have proven 2 things to me. The first is that I need to step up my game. The second is you seem to miss the point of the game."

This brought down everyone's mood. "The heck are you talking about?" Yuga asked with a huff. "We got the whole survival thing, but it's not like we can't attack, use effects, or any of the other stuff we can normally do. It's still a Duel no matter which way you slice it, man!"

"The point is to escape, or die tying." Benedict snapped back, clearly annoyed. "Perhaps you just need the right kind of motivation to get you playing the game the right way."

Benedict pulled out two cards and threw them into the fire, causing the dark fog to swell up and surround them yet again. "Gee, someone's in a bad mood." Shihime groaned, coughing a bit from the smoke. As the fog cleared, Shihime saw grass under her feet… and a fence nearby. She looked around and realized that she was in the backyard of a house, and looking to where the front of the house was, she could actually see the street of what looked like a normal suburban block. In addition, the others weren't too far away this time, as she could actually see Yuga and Tamotsu from where she was currently standing. Tamotsu was closest to her, only being a couple yards away, so she whistled in his direction. "Tamotsu! Over here!"

Tamotsu looked over in her direction, seeing her waving and making him smile. "Shihime!" He ran over and hopped a fence as Yuga and Kazehana, who also heard her, started moving toward her as well.

Shihime hopped over a few fences to end up in the middle yard with Tamotsu, and it didn't take long for Yuga and Kazehana to make it to them. "Well, finding each other was surprisingly easy this time!" Yuga commented.

"This is either by design, or coincidence given the smaller map." Tamotsu concluded.

Kazehana gave him a lost look. "Smaller map?" Tamotsu pointed to the back end of the yard they were currently in. Past the fence, a massive wall of thorny, tendril-like vines had sprouted from the hedge line and blocked the way as far as the eye could see. "Oh yeah..." Kazehana gave herself a light knock to the head. "We're definitely not going THAT way."

"And I can see the same thing on the other side of the street." Tamotsu told them. "This stage is much more contained than the last two. I don't know whether that's a good thing or a bad thing."

"Hmm... " Yuga pondered their predicament for a moment, but then he realized something. "Wait a minute."

"What is it, Yuga?" Shihime asked.

"...Right before the smoke hit, I saw it. There were TWO cards that hit the fire. ...I don't think this is all there is to the map."

Meanwhile, on the other side of the stage, Benedict was clearly not happy and throwing a small yet quiet fit. "Kuso, kuso, kuso, kuso!" He griped in a harsh whisper. "How could they have found 2 Totem cards in such a short time with all the other cards there are out there?" Realizing his fit was getting him nowhere, he sighed. "No matter. Since they seem to want more of a challenge, I'll give it to them. Step 1 was adding more Hooked cards to the field, the next is getting a monster." He looked at his yet-again-lackluster hand. "First I need a new hand. This is where I would have liked to have still had my normal turn, but I just had to be beat by the guy who goes right before me in the order." With that, Benedict reached for his Deck. "Ore no turn! Draw!" When he saw the card he drew, he gave an evil grin. "Yosh! I banish what's left of my hand and all the Spell Cards in my Graveyard! Magic Card, **Grand Offering to the Entity** , hatsudo!" A coin appeared in his hand. "I flip this and call it. If I'm right, I get 6 cards and can draw during my opponent's Draw Phase. If I'm wrong, my turn ends."

"Nani sore?" Yusha exclaimed. "Since when did he have that card?"

"He's always had it." Zed told him. "He just doesn't use it that much because, according to him, it removes the immersion. Clearly, Yuga and the others got on his nerves."

"Removes the immersion how?" Hoshiko asked. "Sounds to me like it goes with the rules he set up in the beginning."

Zed sighed. "Benedict has a bad habit of forgetting that this is overall a Duel. He had this Deck specially made for this kind of Duel, designed to create powerful monsters that the opponent shouldn't be capable of fighting back against, seemingly leaving those Generators as the only way to beat him. But no card is unbeatable, and I think he's starting to realize that... and he's not happy about it."

"Almost sounds like how Yuya-san goes full on entertainer during duels," Hoshiko commented, causing all three to chuckle a little.

"Heh, it's kinda like that." Zed said as he finished laughing. "Only problem here? Benedict's a bad loser. A few guys actually tried to just out-muscle him once and drop his LP to 0. It took him a few hours before he could actually bring himself to talk to Benedict again once he was done because of how terrified he was."

Yusha watched Benedict flip the coin. "He does know who he's dealing with, right? Who all of our parents are?" he asked.

"He should, but I think as far as he cares, the only rules that matter are the ones he creates." Zed popped a piece of gum in his mouth and started chewing it. "Let's see how far it gets him THIS time."

Benedict caught the coin. "Tails!" He opened his hand to show Tails.

"And I thought Yuga and Tamotsu were lucky." Yusha commented as he watched.

Benedict drew his 6 cards and got to work. "Casket Chain Carrier, Shoukan!" The monster that appeared was a monster in the shape of a humanoid link of chains. He dragged behind him a black casket wrapped in chains.

 **Casket Chain Carrier: Level 4 DARK Fiend/Dark Tuner ATK:0/DEF:900**

"Now, I banish him and Swamp Hag from my Graveyard to perform another Dark Synchro Summon!" Chain Carrier sent its own chains into a purple portal, dragging Swamp Hag out before squeezing hard, obliterating her body and leaving 3 black Level Stars behind. Carrier then morphed into 4 black Stars and joined them, all 7 merging together to give off a black flash. "The darkness deepens within the mad god's world. Its servant emerges to roam its domain! Daaku Shinkuro Shoukan!" The black flash became electrified and exploded to reveal a tall and imposing figure. "Come forth from the darkness, master of the mind and bringer of shocking fear!" He wore tattered clothes of some kind of doctor, but his darkened skin showed that he couldn't even care for himself properly. "Servant of the Entity - Shock Doctor!" Additionally, and most disturbingly, his mouth and eyes were held open but strange devices and he let out a wheezing roar, brandishing a long silver metal stick of unknown nature.

 **Servant of the Entity – Shock Doctor: Lv.-7 DARK Fiend/Dark Synchro ATK:2500/DEF:0**

Yusha and Hoshiko both gave a revolted "Egggghhhhh!" at the sight of this... thing. "I'm not even in the Duel, and it's gonna give ME nightmares!" said Hoshiko.

"Its looks aren't even the half of it." Zed told them, blowing a bubble and popping it. "That's actually one of Benedict's strongest Dark Synchros."

"He must be done playing around if he's using it now." Yusha said.

Benedict continued his turn. "Now, I equip 1 card to him, place another one facedown, and play **Dark Armoring**! If I control a Dark Synchro Monster, I can search my Deck for 1 Equip Spell for every 3 Negative Levels my monster has, and equip them." Two cards popped out from his Deck, which he immediately equipped to his monster. "Now, I'll show them why they should play the game as its intended."

On the other side of the street, the group of 4 could actually see a small part of the Dark Synchro Summon scene, and they heard the roar that followed it. "Sounds like he's about ready, but he didn't end his turn." Yuga noticed.

"Would you if you didn't get another one right away?" Tamotsu asked, making Yuga "Eh?" in response. "Check the turn order. Because I was the one who destroyed his monster, he didn't get the extra turn that he would've got if any of you guys had done it, meaning he's got one turn before we all get our turns again."

"Meaning he's going to try and make the most of it." Shihime deduced.

"Yeah...And that other card you saw has me worried, Yuga." Tamotsu went on as he looked around. "There seems to be more Action Cards than usual. I wonder..." He went over to one of the cards and flipped it, revealing a Hooked Trap.

Kazehana gasped. "Tamotsu-kun!"

"Relax!" The boy told her. "I activate Toolbox's other effect! By using 2 of the Counters it gave me, I can negate and destroy this card." Two lights flew off of Barricade Zero as the hook appeared from the card. The lights turned into a screwdriver and pliers, which quickly tinkered with the hook before it collapsed into a heap and dissolved into pixels.

"Safe." Yuga said, waving his arms like a baseball umpire.

"This time, at least. I only have one Counter left, so I can't do this again unless I find another Toolbox card."

"Guess that means we're probably going to stick to chests." Kazehana figured.

"Maybe not."

"What do you mean, Yuga-kun?"

"Just like you and Hime figured out the Generator card was on that shipwreck," Yuga explained, "I'm willing to bet that in the houses are Generators too."

"That sounds logical, but there's a bunch of houses. Where would we start?" Shihime asked.

Yuga looked at the house whose backyard they were in. "My guess? The ones not boarded up." He pointed to the fact that the house next door seemed completely shut whereas the one in front of them had the doors and windows open.

"Good guess. Let's take a look." Tamotsu told them. "And be careful. Me finding that Hooked card was probably more than a coincidence. I bet he adjusted the game difficultly to add more of them."

"If he did, that's a massive jerk move to pull just because we overtook him." Kazehana fumed.

"Or he's just taking it seriously now." Yuga suggested, trying to defuse things. "Either way, I..." He paused as his heart started to race. "He's getting close... We need to move."

"Split up or together?" Kazehana asked.

"We'll stick with 2 teams of 2 to be safe. Kaze, you'll go with me. Shihime, Tamotsu, you two check one of the other houses."

Tamotsu and Shihime both nodded. "Hai!"

"Ok, break!"

Shihime and Tamotsu headed across the lawns toward another house as Yuga and Kazehana entered the house they were currently in the yard of. However, it didn't take very long for the Synchro and Pendulum kids to end up running right into a glaring Benedict. "Uh... hi?" Kazehana meekly squeaked as she looked at him with an uneasy smile.

"How lovely for you two to present yourselves as sacrifices." Benedict taunted with his hand on his pocket.

"You should know that we're not gonna go quietly, pal!" Yuga told him.

"No, not quietly..." Benedict paused as his glare turned to a look of madness. "…but screaming in madness. Shock Doctor no kouka hatsudo!"

An aura of electrical energy rippled along the floor and zapped Yuga's monsters. "Nani? What happened?" He asked in surprise. At that moment, Shock Doctor stepped into plain view, startling both Duelists.

"Nyaaaaah!" Kazehana exclaimed in fright and disgust. "Who in their right mind would design something like that?!"

"You forget, you're in the Dark Synchro Dimension." Benedict told her. "We may not be bad guys, but some of us like the more morbid things. Not to mention it's almost Halloween." He cleared his throat. "In any case, Shock Doctor's Madness Spark places 2 Madness Counters on a monster in the same column as him, and 1 on each monster in adjacent columns." When the electricity finally subsided, all three of Yuga's monsters looked a bit wired, Vocalong more than the other two.

 **Vocalong: 2 Madness Counters**

 **Pianferno & Dolfiddle: 1 Madness Counter**

"Now...who to deal with first?" Benedict mused as he looked back and forth between them, eventually eyeing the defenseless Kazehana, making her seethe. Yuga readied his finger over a button to activate a facedown, which made Benedict grin. "Direct attack on Kazehana!" Electrifying his stick, Doctor charged forward.

"Trap, hatsudo! **Entermate Band Feedback**!" Shaking some of their unease off, Pianferno and Dolfiddle cranked up a dial on their headphones before playing both their instruments, a loud burst of feedback coming from seemingly nowhere. "This card allows me to, for this turn only, negate your attacks by up to the number of monsters I control with different Types! Even if you could have more than one monster, you'd be stopped cold three times this turn!"

"I was waiting for this!" Benedict exclaimed. "Because I control a Servant of the Entity, I can activate this the turn I set it! Trap, hatsudo! **Dark Hex of Hope Devouring**!"

"Nani?" Doctor was repelled by the soundwaves, but Yuga's card immediately disappeared.

"As long as this Hex has a Totem Counter on it, any Magic or Trap card that negates destruction or reduces damage to 0 is banished immediately after its effect resolves. Once I banish enough of them, certain effects will come into play."

"Ah, mou...!" Kazehana exclaimed in frustration. "More of these annoying Counter cards?"

Benedict shrugged. "It's just how I roll. Now, I think I'll go see if your friends have anything for me." With that, he started to calmly walk out of the house, confusing the duo.

"J-Jotto mate!" Yuga called out, making Benedict stop. "I already negated your attack! What do you think you're gonna do?"

Benedict nonchalantly looked back. " **Play With My Food** , of course. Which, by the way, is the name of another Equip Spell on my Doctor. It lets my monster attack again if the attack is negated or the monster is not destroyed by battle." He started walking away again, this time leaving the house. "And it can twice per turn keep me from destroying my attack target."

The two just stood stunned for a moment. "I don't like the look of this." Yuga finally said before he ran after Benedict, only to realize that once he got outside, Benedict was nowhere to be found. "Huh? Where'd he go?"

"Forget him, Yuga! Let's look for anything of value in here!"

Hearing Kazehana say that, Yuga looked back at her strangely. "You're not planning to rob this place, are you?"

Kazehana gave him an 'Are you serious?' kind of look. "A. This is an Action Field. B. I'm talking about Action Cards or a Generator! Duh!"

"It's the way you phrased it..." Yuga started to say, but he stopped himself and shook his head, sweatdropping. "Maybe I better stop blaring music on my headphones." After that embarrassing moment, Yuga was finally able to take in the rather empty house they were in. "Guessing these are supposed to be houses of people who moved out quickly for who knows what."

"Yeah..." Kazehana felt a chill as she looked over the furniture-less rooms. "It's really creepy."

"I'll give Benedict this: He certainly knows his spooky environments." Yuga complimented.

At that moment, Kazehana saw the gold-trimmed card near the foot of the stairs. "There!" She shouted as she went for it.

"Nice find!" Yuga told her. "I'm gonna see if I can find some Action Cards!" However, as he walked out, something weighed heavy on his mind, and instead, without saying anything, he took off out of the house without Kazehana noticing.

Meanwhile, across the street, Tamotsu and Shihime were looking around the upstairs of another house. "Of course it would have the damn Basement in it." Shihime grumbled. "Of all the houses, we had to go to the one with the Basement."

"At least we know to avoid that place based on last time." Tamotsu told her as he looked under an old bed to find nothing.

"Yeah, but there's also a chest down there." Shihime retorted. "For all we know, it could give you the recharge you need for Counters."

Tamotsu just sighed. "Some days, it feels like the field itself is out to getcha."

"Especially when you have an opponent with a tendency to spew salt." Shihime griped. She then walked into a room on the other side of the hall, only to come across the gold bordered card. "Yatta! I found it!" She flipped it over to reveal a Generator. This time, the Generator was yellow and of a different style from the other two maps, but still had the 4 coins on it.

Tamotsu, meanwhile, looked out a window, and in a small park area in one corner of the map, he could see one of the previous Generators lit up. "I'm glad the completed Generators carry over." he said, taking in the nighttime scene. "This would be near impossible if they didn't." At that moment, the generator backfired, but it was a louder explosion that before, making Shihime scream. Tamotsu, startled, rushed into the other room. "Hime?!"

He saw her sitting against a walk, rubbing the back of her head. "Ite (Ow)!" She winced. "Stupid thing nearly blow up in my face." It was quick, but Tamotsu caught a glimpse of Shihime's Life Point gauge as it disappeared.

 **Shihime LP:3450**

"Eh?" he said in surprise as he double checked his own Disk. "Uh, Hime? You just lost Life Points somehow."

"Nani?" Shihime checked her own Disk, confirming that she was down 500 LP. "How?"

Benedict's voice suddenly filled the room. "That would be because of my Equip Magic. **Overcharger** hits you for 500 damage if you get a undesirable coin toss result."

"Seriously?" Tamotsu groaned. "The increased coin flips were bad enough!"

"You wanted me to play more seriously, this is what you get." Benedict taunted. The stairs then started to creak as heavy footsteps began to climb them, and Shihime and Tamotsu felt their hearts start to race.

"Kuso..." Shihime cursed. "He's here."

Benedict spoke again, this time in a singsong manner. "And I'm coming for you, Princess. Hmhmhmhm."

"Tamotsu..." Shihime asked, slightly unnerved. "Can I get some backup here?"

"You don't even have to ask." Tamotsu replied as he positioned himself between her and the stairs. At that moment, Shock Doctor came into full view at the top of the steps, making Tamotsu gag in disgust. "Ugh… Such a gruesome fiend."

"And you'll find that he leaves a shocking impression." Benedict told them. "Action Magic, **Recharge** , hatsudo! My Doctor can now use his effect again. Madness Spark!" Doctor charged up and released a ripple of electricity from himself, zapping Tamotsu's monsters. The electricity faded, and while Barricade Zero had no OPEN signs of anything wrong, the soldiers manning Battery Three's cannons were a bit jittery.

 **Barricade Zero: 2 Madness Counters**

 **Battery Three: 1 Madness Counter**

"I'll start building up with you, and go from there." Benedict said as Shock Doctor eyed them both. "In the meantime... Shock Doctor, attack Tango Tundra!" The Doctor charged forward, holding his weapon high with both hands and roaring. Tundra clashed his axe with Doctor's stick, but electricity was conducted through the stick across Tundra's entire body. ...However, Doctor merely backed off after doing so, leaving Tundra shaken, but otherwise fine.

 **Shihime LP:2450**

"Eh? It was only a 500-point difference!" Shihime shouted when she saw her Life Points lower than expected.

"Equip Magic: **Sloppy Butcher**." Benedict declared. "This card doubles all battle damage my killer inflicts." Both Duelists glared at the monster after he said that. "Additionally, I still have one more attack. Through my Equip Spell, Play with your Food, My monster can attack up to three times, but the monster is not destroyed on the first two. I got one negated going for Curly, one damaging you. And now, I'm going to make sure you can't get a second shot." A loud explosion was suddenly heard from across the street, making Benedict briefly glance in that direction. "Sounds like your friends found out about my Spell's effect too."

"Hopefully it was Kaze using the Generator." Tamotsu wished. "She has more Life Points."

"Worry about yourself." Benedict said menacingly. "Shock Doctor, attack Battery Three!" Doctor charged forward again, but before he got too close to Battery Three, the sound of speaker feedback assaulted his ears once more, making him cover them rather than continue his attack.

"Nice try, Benedict." Yuga shouted up from the bottom of the stairs. "But the effect of my Feedback Spell doesn't stop when it leaves the field."

Tamotsu ran into the hall via another door than the one Shock Doctor was blocking, and looked over the railing to see his friend. "Arigatou, Yuga! Glad you showed up!"

"I'm just glad he was cocky enough to tell me where he was going."

"Cocky?" Benedict scoffed. "How do you know I didn't plan on you showing up?"

"You have a habit of getting tunnel-visioned."

"Perhaps… But if all three of you are here... Who's protecting Curly while she works on the Generator?"

"Kazehana should be able to handle herself. She'll get that Generator fixed soon enough."

"We'll see. For now, I play **Doctor's Interview Tape** , which will gain my Doctor a bonus I'll address later. Kaado ichi mai settei. Turn end." On cue, the Doctor took off for and out an open window as the trio's heart rates returned to normal.

"Hey, where's he going?!" Yuga demanded. "It's my turn now!"

"Catch me if you can!" Benedict called as Shock Doctor climbed out the window, but he was quickly stopped in his tracks by Vocalong, Pianferno, and Dolfiddle barring the way. Benedict saw this from outside of the house, narrowing his eyes. "Not much range. But maybe I can get a hook on the Xyz user." He mused to himself.

"Ore no turn! Draw!" Yuga drew his card. "Entermate Band Pianferno no kouka hatsudo! Once per turn, I can inflict 400 damage to my opponent for each monster I control with a different Type!" Pianferno began rapidly playing the keys of his piano, flaring up his body before launching a fireball at Benedict. He quietly grunted as he held his ears against the noise and got out of the way of the flames, but he kept his eyes scanning the area for Action Cards.

 **Benedict LP: 11450**

Yuga then held up a card from his hand. "Ikuze! Pendyuramu Shoukan!" The Pendulum portal above opened once more and released a beam of light. "Koi, Entermate Band Guitron!" The beam morphed into an android with largely gold metal, its flashy clothes being more of a paint job (and having a prominent five-pointed star on the chest) and the headphones built into its head, pulling a guitar off its back (revealing an actual equip slot on the back) and holding it more like a rifle, revealing a barrel on the end of the neck.

 **Entermate Band Guitron: Lv.5 DARK Machine/Pendulum ATK:2000/DEF:1400**

"Guitron no kouka hatsudo! When this card is Pendulum Summoned, I can draw cards for each other Type I control!" Guitron played a chord on his guitar, allowing Yuga to draw 3 cards. "These'll be useful for later. Kaado ni mai settei. Turn end!"

"No fight in you?" Benedict said in a mocking tone as Doctor jumped off the roof. "Too bad."

"Don't want us to warp out too quickly. After all," Yuga looked over at Shihime, who was working on the Generator, "we've got a job to do."

Benedict, not expecting that kind of response, let out a growl. 'If I can't get them to spend my facedown, I won't be able to use any Action Cards.'

*Meanwhile*

 **Kazehana LP: 4250**

"Mou! Now these things can damage us!" Kazehana shrieked in anger from the Generator's backfire. "This game is rigged!" In anger, she kicked the Generator, but since she was kicking solid metal, the quickly building pain made her regret it. "Owowowowow!" She cried as she held her injured foot while hopping on the other. As the pain began to become tolerable, Kazehand sighed and tried to calm down. "So, here I am all alone with this thing." She looked around the area. "Alone in this creepy... abandoned... house..." Her voice started to become scared, but she shook her head to shake it off. "Focus, Kaze. You're one of the toughest Turbo Duelist in all of City, right? What have you to be scared of... except maybe bugs that can crawl into your brain..." Realizing what she was even SAYING, she slapped herself multiple times. "MOU! What is wrong with me?! This place, this whole Duel... it's completely under my skin now!" She stomped her foot (the one she didn't kick the Generator with) in rage, panting. "Okay, yeah, this kind of thing is fun, at first... if you were really into horror movies." She sighed again. "You know what? Maybe I should shut up and find myself some way to catch that Benedict guy off his game." She walked outside for a moment, looking up at the simulated dark sky. "Tamotsu had to have gotten rid of that Hooked card back here. I'm I can find something to help me get another Accel Synchro going." Looking around for a moment, she found an Action Card nearby. "Here's hoping." She picked it up and flipped it around: A Magic. "' **Unbreakable** '..." She read the effect. "This can be useful. Now, about that Generator." She went back to flipping over more cards. One of the card was called " **Object of Obsession** ", leaving it there with a mental note of where it was, but the next one she flipped was the dreaded Hooked. "Shimata!" Darkness surrounded her, leaving her all alone (moreso than before). She didn't even feel any effects of Benedict's power at that point (at least she didn't think so), but her heart was still racing as she looked around. "Is all this really necessary, you freak?" She shouted.

"Oh, my dear, you have no idea who you're dealing with."

The voice that had replied startled Kazehana badly. Not only was the voice female, so it definitely wasn't Benedict… but she RECOGNIZED it. "Eh?! M... Mama?!" Out of nowhere, Kazehana felt herself be grabbed and shoved, landing square on the hook that had emerged behind her. Kazehana let out a bloodcurdling scream as she felt the pain rip through her, but through the tears forming in her eyes, she saw the figure take off its hood, revealing that it was none other than Rin, looking at her with a twisted smile on her face. "M-Mama...?! Nanda?!"

Rather than Rin herself reply, a distorted chuckle came from the darkness. "She's mine now." The unrecognizable voice answered before another figure approached, looking somewhat humanoid, but it was clearly not human, having various insectoid features as well, including human-shaped compound eyes.

Though the figure was distorted, Kazehana could somehow recognize it… as a monster from her nightmares. "D… Doktor?!"

"To think that she along the others would have spawned new Duelists ripe for the picking..." The mutant Doktor mused. "This must be my lucky day."

"No!" Kazehana cried, tightening her grip on the hook and trying to hide her fear. "I'll never join you!"

The Doktor let out a noise that resembled a mutated buzzing. "You won't have a choice." A tendril burst out from his hand before launching it to her.

Kazehana let out another scream as the illusion ended, this one heard by the other duelists across the road. "Kazehana!" Yuga cried.

"Looks like she found the next Hook." Benedict mused.

"What the hell did you show her?!" Shihime angrily demanded to know.

"I don't know. My power generates their fears as illusions. It's based on what THEY know, not what I know. I just give the aura that gives those fears life. What do you have to fear, princess?"

"Figure out how to read my mind if you want to know so bad."

"Oh, I'll find out when I get you screaming for the nightmares to stop." Benedict chucked. Yuga ran off to try and help Kazehana while Shihime climbs out onto the roof of the porch. "Of course you're going to be difficult..." As she took the front, Tamotsu took over the Generator. "Come at get me, princess. You know the nightmare ends if you attack me."

"One nightmare ends, another one begins. I know how you work." Shihime replied.

"Then what will you do? Stand there and do nothing? Disappoint the audience? What would Papa say?"

Shihime's eye twitched. "...Those kinds of words aren't likely to make this game fun."

Benedict chuckled. "Touched a nerve there."

*Meanwhile*

Yuga ran back into the other house, only to find Kazehana sprawled out on the grass in the backyard, eyes closed and skin pale. "Kazehana!" He cried, rushing over and kneeling down, shaking her to wake her up.

His shaking started to work as Kazehana started to come around, but her eyes shot open in terror as she immediately knocked Yuga off her with a punch, screaming loudly. "Get away from me, you monster!"

"Ow! Kaze! It's me, Yuga!" Yuga cried, rubbing his cheek. Hearing his familiar voice, Kazehana stopped and looked around, seeing that she was back on the Duel field and uninjured. When she saw Yuga, she quickly wrapped him in a tight hug, and Yuga could feel that her cheeks were wet with tears. "Kaze-chan, what happened?"

"I saw that monster... Doktor..." Kazehana managed to choke out from her sobs. "…and Mama... He had Mama...!"

Yuga returned her hug to try and calm her down. "Hey, it's OK, it's OK. It's only a nightmare. It can't really hurt you."

Kazehana gulped, slowly breaking from the hug and wiping her tears. "I don't know if I wanna play this game anymore..."

"Kaze, it's just your fears. Just what's in your head. Benedict isn't doing anything."

"He doesn't have to make it seem so real!" Kazehana suddenly shrieked, her face a mix of anger and terror. "It's not fun that way!"

Yuga hated seeing any of his friends this way, but some of his logic remained in front. "I'm not gonna defend him... but I don't think it's in his control." Kazehana gave an "Eh?" in response, utterly confused. "It doesn't seem like he's actively trying to do this. It's like his power just... acts. Not that it's alive, it just... works on autopilot, I guess." He could tell that his explanation wasn't helping, as Kazehana still looked confused, so he kept going. "When I got hooked, I didn't get to experience anything other than the pain because Tamotsu woke me up before anything could happen. Hime was trying to not think about it as anything but an illusion, but I think she doubted herself enough to where his power made her think the hook was real metal in her hand, to the point where we both saw for a few seconds the hole where the hook went through. You got to experience so much more than either of us because you were left here... alone... no one around to help you."

"What does that mean?" Kazehana asked.

"Short answer: I think we need to stick together from here on in so things don't get too much worse. If something bad happens, I can help you snap out of it." Yuga gave her a smile, trying to help her. "It's like what Zed said, we have to keep hope alive no matter what." On instinct, Yuga picked up a nearby Action Card, and his smile grew as he showed it to Kazehana. "See?" Kazehana saw the card, and gave a small smile herself. "Action Magic, **We'll Make It!** , hatsudo!" He played the card, causing green sparkles to shower over Kazehana. "I increase Kaze-chan's Life Points to 3000."

 **Kazehana LP:3000**

Kazehana nodded from the gesture. "Arigatou... Yuga." Then, all of a sudden, she jumped back to her feet, the fire in her eyes reigniting. "Yosh! Let's win this!"

"There's the Kazehana I know." Yuga said, getting to his feet as well. "Now let's take care of that Generator."

Without another word, Kazehana quickly rushed back into the house and grabbed all four coins off the Generator in one swift motion. "Boku wa... Lucky Kitaa!" She shouted before she tossed them all into the air. One by one she watched them lands: Heads, Heads, Heads… and the final coin landing on the fourth Heads, making Kazehana fistpump. "Yattaze!" The 4 coins turned into energy which fed the Generator's mechanics, causing it to slowly start up and whir to life. As it came to full power, the lights in the house started to flicker before they all came on and stayed on, the Generator's whirring filling the house.

 **Generators Powered: 3**

Yuga came in to see Kazehana beaming beside the now-working Generator. "Way to go, Kaze! 3 down!" He chirped. Kazehana gave a peace sign as Yuga approached, putting a hand on her shoulder. "And hey, if you ever want to talk about those nightmares with someone..."

Kazehana knew what he was saying and nodded. "Hai. I've got friends that I can turn to."

Back across the street, Tamotsu flipped a coin for the Generator he was working on when he looked at the house Yuga and Kazehana were in. "Hime, look behind you!"

Shihime turned toward that house, seeing that it now had all its rooms lit up. "Yosh. They got the third one, which means I don't have to wait anymore." She chirped. "You keep working, Tamotsu. I'll see if I can at least do a little damage."

Tamotsu got a second Heads as he replied. "Don't worry about me, just do what you can!"

"Hai! Watashi no turn! Draw!" Shihime drew her card. "I release Tango Tundra! Thermal Force - Foxtrot Flare, Adobansu Shoukan!" Tundra was encased in ice, which quickly turned to flames that receded to reveal a woman with fox ears and a tail, also decked out in a police uniform, with five red drones producing flames hovering around her.

 **Thermal Force – Foxtrot Flare: Lv.6 FIRE Psychic ATK:1900/DEF:2300**

"If Foxtrot Flare is Advance Summoned by using a FIRE or WATER monster as a Tribute, whichever Attribute wasn't Tributed gains 800 ATK!" Two of Foxtrot's drones hovered out of position, showering herself and Victor with fiery energy.

 **Foxtrot Flare ATK:2700**

 **Victor Variance ATK:4700**

Benedict grinned, knowing this was the chance he was waiting for. Tamotsu, meanwhile, got his 3rd Heads. "Just one more!" He said before flipping the last coin, but it ended up being a Tails, causing the Generator to backfire and knock him back with the slight explosion.

 **Tamotsu LP: 3500**

"Hahahahahahahaha!" Benedict laughed heartily, not even caring that his character broke and his regular voice returned. "Oh, it's almost cruel when the coin lands wrong on the last one. No one likes being on that receiving end."

"Like you won't like this one. Victor Variance, attack Shock Doctor with Element Bolo Buster!" Variance pointed both his cannons forward, generating two different elemental energy spheres before launching them, the spheres spinning while connected to an energy tether.

"Trap, hatsudo! **Entity's Invincible Servant!** " A facedown on Benedict's field flipped up. "This prevents my monster from being destroyed until my Standby Phase!"

Shihime rose an eyebrow. "Does that card happen to prevent battle damage at all?"

A light grumble was hard when Benedict spoke again. "It halves it, at least."

"Then the net result is no change. If Victor Variance battles a monster with less ATK than him, the battle damage is doubled!" The energy tether for the two energy balls struck Shock Doctor first, tying the elements to him before they converged, surrounding him in a powerful burst of fire and ice. The Doctor wheezingly grunted against the attack, but eventually broke out of it, albeit panting.

 **Benedict LP: 9250**

"I must commend you. Not many manage to get me under 10000 Life Points." Benedict mused. "At the same time, though, because I played Doctor's Interview Tape earlier, your monster now gains a Madness Counter. Think of it like an exchange of static electricity." Variance felt an electric shock go through his body.

 **Victor Variance: 1 Madness Counter**

"That should do well for now. How you doing, Tamotsu?" Shihime asked.

"I'll live." Tamotsu replied, coughing once. "Once Kaze-chan takes her turn, I'll get back on this Generator."

"If that's all you're going to do, I'll make use of this opportunity." Benedict said. "Action Magic, Iron Grasp, hatsudo! You remember how this works, don't you, Princess? I'm equipping Your Foxtrot Flare to Shock Doctor!" The Doctor, clenching its fist, ran towards the cop in order to grab her.

"Trap, hatsudo! **Rampart Charge**!" As Tamotsu's facedown flipped up, Battery Three's soldiers began outright pushing the wall, cannons along with them, across the ground to bar the way to Foxtrot Flare. "This card redirects either an attack or an effect to a Rampart Revenant monster I control, and so long as that monster remains on the field, no other monsters can be targeted by you this turn!" The Doctor, without missing a beat, picked up one of the soldiers on Battery Three, hefting it onto its shoulder.

"How noble of you. Keeping the princess's hope alive is going to make it so much sweeter once the Entity starts to devour it." Benedict said with a chuckle. "And you, loverboy, just fell for my Trap."

"This Duel's far from over." Tamotsu replied. "We're halfway to victory and on the verge of another Generator fixed."

"Perhaps, but let's put you on an equal field with your friends. Through Iron Grasp, you will now take the effects of any card that goes after me directly… like THIS ONE!" An Action Card appeared in front of them: Hooked.

"Bakana!" Tamotsu cried.

"Just like what happened to me!" Shihime realized.

"And this completes the cycle." Benedict's voice echoed as darkness billowed from the card, leaving Tamotsu stranded in nothingness.

"Nice going, Baka!" Shihime's voice echoed from the darkness, sounding rather irate.

"G-Gomen, Hime! I just tried to help!" Tamotsu replied on impulse. "You're already in a bad spo-" He stopped. Something about her voice didn't seem right. It seemed… distorted. "Wait, that's not how you sou-" He was cut off again, this time involuntarily, as a shadowy figure grabbed him and slammed him back-first onto the hook, causing him to scream in pain. As he writhed from the pain, the figure pulled off its hood to reveal that it was somehow Shihime glaring at him. "N... Nanda?!"

"You just had to play the hero and you just ended up getting us closer to losing." The copy said, the distortion fading in and out. "I thought you had a crush on me!"

Tamotsu gasped. "How...how did you know?"

"Oh, like you weren't exactly obvious with your long stares at my back!"

Tamotsu looked down, tears that were a mix of embarrassment and pain coming from his eyes. "I... I always thought you knew, but..."

"How can you even have a crush on me, anyway? Our parents are practically the same person!" The distortion was back in full force in her voice. "We could be related, or, hell, siblings!"

Something about that line triggered something in Tamotsu, causing him to immediately bite back. "Okay, you KNOW that's not true!"

The fake growled. "Try convincing the world of that."

At that moment, Tamotsu felt a slap on his cheek, causing the illusion to vanish before his eyes. As he came to, he sat up to see Kazehana kneeling next to him. "You OK, Tamo-kun?" She asked.

Tamotsu had to hold his head for a moment. "Ngh... Yeah, I'm OK. How's Shihime doing?"

"She's about ready to rip Benedict's head off if she can find him. She's really mad at all this." Kazehand replied, getting to her feet. "Once I start my turn, you better get that Generator going again."

Tamotsu sighed. "...Hai. I'll do my best."

Kazehana looked worried. "You sure you're OK, Tamo-kun? It's just us."

The Xyz boy looked away for a moment. "...I could be better, but I'll be all right."

The Synchro girl didn't quite believe him, especially since he did just come off of being Hooked. She remembered hearing some of his words while he was suffering, and judging by his tone, she had an idea of what he was. Walking over to him, she leaned in and whispered in his ear. "She likes you too." This surprised Tamotsu and made him look at Kazehana, who winked before going to join Shihime.

"And all the sausages have now tasted the Hook." Benedict mused, loving the character he played. "Soon, you'll be there again, and again, and then the Entity will feast on your hope." He then addressed Shihime. "So, Princess, Loverboy threw himself on the hook to save you. Anything you'd like to do in return?"

He didn't seem fazed at the fact that Shihime was glaring at him. "Of course there is. Magic Card, **Five Rounds Roast** , hatsudo! If the only monsters I control are FIRE Thermal Force monsters, you take damage equal to their combined Levels times 200." Variance pointed his fire cannon forward as Foxtrot readied her drones in position before both of them fired a rapid-fire blitz of fireballs.

"Action Magic, **Insidious** , hatsudo!" The minute he did that, the Doctor vanished from view, the fireballs seemingly hitting nothing."

"What did you just do?"

"For as long as my killers do not move, the Entity makes them invisible to the Survivors, meaning that until the end of this turn, I cannot be hit with Effect Damage."

Shihime seethed. "You're really starting to get on my nerves. Turn end."

Benedict snorted. "You knew what you were getting into when we first started."

It was at that moment that Kazehana made it up to the roof to join her friend. "I'm here, Hime!"

"How's Tamotsu doing?" Shihime asked, concerned for her friend.

"How were you after taking one of those cards?"

"I was pretty shaken. Thankfully Yuga was there to knock me out of it."

"Heheh. Yuga helped me out, too. He had to snap me out of it even after I woke up. It really got to me."

Benedict listened intently at their little conversation. 'He's really the leader of their little group, all right.' He said to himself.

Kazehana then looked at Benedict's monster. "I won't give up just yet. This game's just getting started! Boku no turn! Draw!" She drew her card. "Trap, hatsudo! **Horizon Drive**! This card lets me Synchro Summon a Level 5 or lower Synchro Monster by banishing the Synchro Materials from my Graveyard!" From out of purple portals, Drift Diamond and Color Blaster returned to the field. "Boku wa Reberu Ni no Color Blaster ni Reberu San no Drift Diamond o Tyuningu!" Drift Diamond rocketed to life and caught the jetstream, morphing into three Level Stars that turned into Synchro Rings. Color Blaster flew through the Rings, its two Level Stars lining up before green light shot through them. "Shinkuro Shoukan!" A grappling hook launched out of the light and hooked the chimney of the house, pulling a figure with it that planted its feet firmly on the roof. "Koi, Reberu Go! Horizon Gear Plateau Scale!" The figure, a humanoid robot that was clad in gear that made it look like a hiker, with bulky "clothing", heavy boots, and a backpack with supplies, drew back its grappling hook and started spinning it around.

 **Horizon Gear Plateau Scale: Lv.5 WIND Machine/Synchro ATK:2100/DEF:1800**

"Plateau Scale no kouka hatsudo! If it was Synchro Summoned using a Synchro Tuner Monster, I can draw cards equal to that monster's Level!" She drew 3 cards. "Horizon Gear Gravity Scooter, Shoukan!" An automated scooter descended to the field, hovering with anti-gravity technology rather than wheels.

 **Horizon Gear Gravity Scooter: Lv.2 WIND Machine/Tuner ATK:1100/DEF:700**

"Horizon Gear Drop Chute no kouka hatsudo! Since I Summoned a Level 2 or lower monster, I can Special Summon it from my hand!" From up above, a robot descended with a hard-light parachute attached to its back.

 **Horizon Gear Drop Chute: Lv.1 WIND/Machine ATK:400/DEF:100**

"Boku wa Reberu Ichi no Drop Chute ni Reberu Ni no Gravity Scooter o Tyuningu!" Gravity Scooter merely floated back into the air before morphing into two Level Stars that became Synchro Rings. Drop Chute flew through the Rings and exposed its single Level Star, green light shining through. "Shinkuro Shoukan! Koi, Reberu San! Horizon Gear Aqua Rider!" In the jetstream that these monsters rode, a new one rode across it, riding across it like a wave of water before revealing it to be a mechanical surfboard ridden by a robot that resembled a humanoid shark.

 **Horizon Gear Aqua Rider: Lv.3 WIND Machine/Synchro/Tuner ATK:1500/DEF:1300**

"Kaze-chan's fired up. Guess whatever Benedict showed her wasn't pleasant." Yusha mused up in the stands.

Zed had a look of unease on his face. "Benedict can't really control what his power shows them. He's been TRYING to get a handle on it, but... I guess it isn't working that well."

"Wait, I thought you told us he made their illusions real at the beginning of the Duel." Hoshiko asked, giving him a slight leer.

"He does. I never said he CONTROLS what those illusions are." Zed explained. "He's not a mind reader, so once his power gets to them, it basically acts by itself to take their form."

The look on Hoshiko's face made it clear that she didn't believe him. "Zed, don't kid a kidder. What aren't you telling us?"

Zed looked at her nervously. "I'm not skimping you here! If there's something else going on with his power, I don't know what it is!" Hoshiko just kept staring him down, making him shift uncomfortably in his seat as Kazehana continued her turn.

"Speed Up Kitaa! Boku wa Reberu Go no Plateau Scale ni Reberu San no Aqua Rider o Tyuningu!" Plateau Scale launched its grappling hook to unseen areas as Aqua Rider rode the jetstream, morphing into three Level Stars that became Synchro Rings. A green tint came over the area as Plateau Scale, through its hook, swung through the Rings, and as its five Stars lined up, green energy surged through the Rings. "Akuseru Shinkuro!" A loud engine was heard as something screamed overhead, riding the jetstream on two legs with wheels rather than an actual vehicle. "Arawareyo, Reberu Hachi! Horizon Gear Formula Fighter!" The figure leapt off the stream and went into a drift on impact, coming to a stop on Kazehana's field and revealing it to be a humanoid robot with wheels on its heels and armor that gave it the appearance of a Formula One race car, a motor expelling more of the jetstream instead of smoke on its back.

 **Horizon Gear Formula Fighter: Lv.8 WIND Machine/Synchro ATK:3000/DEF:3000**

"Well, well, someone's anxious." Benedict mused.

Kazehana clenched a fist. "After what you showed me... there's no way I'll let you win! Formula Fighter, attack Shock Doctor!" Revving up its engine, Formula started racing forward, using the jetstream as propulsion to reach breakneck speeds. "...Shift Down!" However, right before it got near Doctor, it grabbed hold of a shift level on his left wrist and pushed it upward, causing the immediately area to seemingly slow down in time, except Formula himself. While in slow down, they could see Benedict in mid-jump for an Action Card, but Kazehana didn't really care that much. "Formula Fighter no kouka hatsudo. When it attacks a monster, that monster's Attack Points are cut in half, and I can attack it twice in exchange for not destroying it the first time around!"

 **Shock Doctor ATK:1250**

Formula Fighter gave a giant leap before barreling toward Shock Doctor with a jetstream-powered flying kick. Benedict grabbed the card just as the kick struck his monster, the jetstream hitting him and pushing him back a bit before he was brought back to real time.

 **Benedict LP:7500**

Kazehana huffed. "Halfway there. Kaado ichi mai settei. Turn end."

Benedict slowly got up and brushed dust off himself. "All that talk, and you only go for one attack? What was the point?" He asked. His answer would come, however, in the form of all the lights in the house suddenly turning on: Tamotsu had fixed the Generator within. "Oh, right."

 **Generators Powered: 4**

Yuga ran out the back door of the house he was in as Shihime and Kazehana were lowered to the ground by their monsters. "One more to go and we'll be out of your little horror show, Benedict!"

"Wait, what?" Benedict wondered, looking up the state of the game on his Disk. Sure enough, he saw that 4 out of 5 Generators had been fully activated. "...Impossible. No one's ever got this far!"

"Not everyone can handle the same challenge." Tamotsu said as he walked outside to join the others. "Clearly, you underestimated us."

Benedict went silent for a moment. "…Is that what you think? Well, I say we even the playing field." He held up an Action Card. "And I picked up just the right Action Card to do it with. If you four what to work together as a team, then you can share in the nightmares as a team. Action Magic, **Monstrous Shrine** , hatsudo!" From the basement of the house, four Action Cards rose up and flew outside, floating in front of the four friends with their backs to them. "The Basement is where the Killer does his best work, and from there he praised the Entity with 4 hooks. This Action Spell is treated as the "Hooked" Action Trap and applies its effect to every Duelist on the field other than myself."

"NANI?!" Yuga, Shihime, Kazehana, and Tamotsu all cried.

"The only reason I can even use it is because you've activated 4 Generators and brought me below half my Life Points. When desperation knocks... I answer with gusto!" The cards turned around to show the Hooked Traps, and suddenly spirits flew out and grabbed the 4 kids, flying them down into the basement. Once there, the kids saw a tall post with 4 hooks in a crosslike formation, and each spirits slammed each kid into a different hook.

Kazehana struggled with the hook, trying to ease the pain she felt. "Oh, come on! What kind of cheap move is that?!" She cried.

"Well, well, my experiment returns." The distorted voice of the Doktor echoed as his insectoid apparition appeared before Kazehana, startling her.

"G-Go away! Mama said you should be dead!" Kazehana cried, only for the Doktor to reach over and grab her by the hair.

"Does this feel DEAD to you?"

"Let... go of me!"

The Doktor chuckled. "Soon…" Holding up his free hand, he opened it to show her a small purple-and-green insect… one she didn't think she'd see for real. "You will be mine."

"N-No! Keep that thing away from me!" She cried.

"Kazehana! Stay strong! It's not real!" Shihime, who was directly behind Kazehana on the pole, told her.

"You should worry about yourself, my pretty purple princess." A voice said from the darkness.

Shihime gasped: She recognized that voice. "T... Tou-chan?"

The voice chuckled. "Yes... Not as you know, though..." In front of her, the hooded figure reappeared, and he took off his hood to reveal the face of Yuri… but it wasn't the warm face she knew. His eyes glowed an evil yellow, and his skin had become some strange mix of purple and green. Spikes and horns protruded from various spots as he flashed her a cold smile, revealing fangs instead of teeth.

"P-Papa...? What are you...?!" Shihime stuttered, demanding to know.

Yuri chuckled again, his voice starting to distort from the voice she knew. "This is what people always thought I'd become. To be honest, I like it better this way. So much power." His mouth started to glow with purple energy. "I feel like nothing... could ever stop me!" He suddenly turned around and unleashed an energy breath at pretty much nothing, causing a small explosion.

"Papa... No..." Shihime whimpered.

Yuri then grabbed hold of her chin, his hand replaced with claws. "Why so sad? As my daughter, you are like me. This is your destiny too."

"It's a lie, Shihime!" Tamotsu told her, being right next to her. "Your father's a good man! He wouldn't turn into that!"

However, Tamotsu suddenly a hand roughly grab his head and turn it, making him see a different Shihime, albeit in a similarly dragonic form. "Tell that to my current form, loser."

Tamotsu, however, felt no fear and glared at her. "Imposter! The real Shihime's right next to me!"

"That pale imitation? You know this is the destiny of the children of Zarc." The fake Shihime's voice started to distort heavily at the mention of Zarc. "If you really love me, you'll join me."

He didn't bite. "The Shihime I know is no monster. She's strong and beautiful, but also kind and just. She would never... NEVER become what you are now! What scares me about you... is that I could even envision you."

"No... What scares you is that you probably couldn't save her if she went down this path."

"Huh? Who's there?" Tamotsu asked at this new voice.

From the shadows behind the dark Shihime, a new figure appeared: A copy of Tamotsu himself, also in a dragonic state. "In fact, the cautious perfectionist that you are, you fear that you too will be wooed by the perfection that is your own heritage. You're afraid that you would become what your parents fought against, or would be unable to save your family if they decided to give into the darkness."

"Nani?!" Tamotsu cried.

"What the heck are you seeing, Tamotsu?" Yuga yelled opposite him. "Keep your head!"

Another new voice spoke. "Why bother? It's not like he's going to have it for very long."

Yuga looked around for the voice. "Who's there?! Show yourself!"

To answer his demand, two eyes flashed in the darkness in front of him... one red, one blue. "Is it so hard to recognize me, Yuga?" The distorted voice asked.

Though he didn't recognize the voice at all due to the distortion, it was those eyes that gave him an idea. "O... Odd-Eyes?"

The figure stepped into view, and although it LOOKED like Odd-Eyes, it was clearly humanoid with red hair... with a familiar blue pendant slung around its neck. "Close enough to it..."

"That pendant..." Yuga breathed, putting 2 and 2 together. "…Tou-san?"

"You'd look better with the skin of a dragon, Yuga... but I suppose your mother might be a little miffed of some of herself didn't get mixed in." The fake Yuya mused before shrugging. "Oh well. It's not like you can escape this, anyway." He held up a hand and snapped his fingers, and the hallucinations of the Doktor, Dragon Shihime, and Dragon Tamotsu vanished (Dragon Yuri remained), but opposite Kazehana and Tamotsu appeared to be Yugo and Yuto, also in forms that took after their dragons.

"Papa?" "Tou-sama?" The Synchro and Xyz children breathed.

"You may be afraid now... So were we at first." Dragon Yuto told them.

"But over time, the power we possessed showed us the silver lining of our true nature." Dragon Yugo clenched a fist as he said this.

"The four of you combined have intense power, all unique to each of you." Dragon Yuri said.

"But you have not seen true power..." Dragon Yuya said as he and the others closed their eyes. "…until you awaken!" All four hallucinations opened their eyes to reveal they had changed colors (Yuya = Red, Yuri = Purple, Yugo = Green, Yuto = Blue) before they flew into the air and gathered together. Darkness surrounded them as they all clasped their hands in front of themselves.

"TOUGOU SHOUKAN!"

A bright light erupted from within the darkness, but as it faded, the kids could see something massive looming over them: A giant serpentine dragon, two massive wings longer than its own body, green markings all over its body, and yellow eyes staring down at them. "Who... Who are you...?!" Yuga breathed in fear, the other kids speechless.

"I am the destroyer... The darkest of dragons. Haoryu (Supreme King Dragon)... ZARC!" The giant dragon shouted in a distorted version of Yuya's voice, a dragon's roar mixed in with his words. "I live on through you, and one day…" Powerful dark red energy gathered within the dragon's mouth, crackling with electricity. "The worlds will once again… meet their end!" The dragon fired the energy as a powerful dark red blast, engulfing the teens' vision as Zarc's laugh echoed. "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

As his vision went red, Yuga suddenly snapped awake and shot up into a sitting position. He looked around and saw that the others were still asleep, and Benedict was nowhere near them.

 **Yuga LP:1000**

 **Shihime LP:1225**

 **Kazehana LP:1500**

 **Tamotsu LP:875**

 **Hooked: 2 (All)**

Yuga sighed. "Well, at least he's not as crummy a Duelist as to watch us suffer and attack while we're down." He mused before quickly rushing to each of his friends, shaking and/or slapping them to try to wake them up.

Kazehana was the first to wake up, giving a short scream before gasping for breath, quickly running her fingers through her hair. "That thing... touched me!" She cried in disgust.

"It's OK, Kaze! It was just another illusion!" Yuga assured her.

Shihime panted as she finally woke up. "That was... Zarc?" She wondered as Tamotsu woke up as well.

"Yeah..." Yuga breathed. "Damn, his illusion was powerful enough to spread my fear onto you guys."

"It's not just your fear, Yuga." Tamotsu said, making the others turn to him. "It's something we've all been afraid of. Our dads told us about Zarc... The dragon they used to be, who nearly destroyed everything."

"But they overcame the evil within him, brought him back to who is was before..." Kazehana tried to rationalize.

"It's just what we all think, Kaze." Yuga said. "Even if we don't want to really say it, we're afraid that somehow he'll turn evil again. That he might even use us to do it, turning us against our parents." The others all sat in silence, knowing that Yuga was right. "I think that's where all our fears come from, and I don't think it's one we can easily overcome."

"He's right. Even if there was an easy way, it wouldn't be instant." Shihime added.

"So, what, we just let him scare us?" Kazehana asked.

"Zed said 'Hope only comes when you are ready to face fear'. This is probably what he meant." Tamotsu mused.

"We need to be ready. We're on the edge of losing... If we break down now, we're hosed." Yuga said.

"More than just here, Yuga." Tamotsu said. "This isn't something we can just put aside later."

"What do you mean?" Yuga asked.

"We all fear that Zarc could come back and be evil again because of what our parents went through, because of what WE went through. We can't shake a fear of the unknown because it is unknown. Even someone as meticulous as me has to admit sometimes that you just can't prepare for everything."

Yuga crossed his arm. "So, what are we suppose to do then?"

"The same thing we always do: Face it together." Tamotsu punctuated this by putting his fist in his hand mortar-and-pestle-style. "Personally, I still don't get how the whole dimensional split thing with our parents works, but what I do know is, one way or another, we're more than just friends. We're our own sort of family, and we protect each other." He held out his hand palm-down. "We're the Children of Zarc, and we'll make sure his legacy isn't one of destruction. That was the promise we made, right?"

Kazehana nodded. "Hai! We're all here to protect the worlds we love!" She placed her hand on top of Tamotsu's.

"And the people within them, both good and bad." Shihime said as she followed suit. "Like our parents before us."

The kids in the stands watched this with smiles on their faces. "We'll drive away everyone's misery... and bring them together!" Yuga said as he placed his hand on top of theirs. "Otanoshimi wa..."

All seven kids shouted together as the four in the Duel rose their hands. "…KORE KARA DA!"

"OK, now that we're pepped up…" Yuga said. "You have a plan, Tamotsu?"

The Xyz boy nodded. "I do. Listen here..." The group gathered together to discuss the plan.

Elsewhere, Benedict leaned against a wall in a corner of the map, and surprisingly, he was trying to catch his breath. His former dark and creepy character had finally been broken, and he had a look of worry on his face. "I can't believe I went that far. I'm not usually that bad a guy." He tried to reason with himself. "And I still can't get Kazehana's screams out of my ears. What the hell did my power show her?" He took a deep breath. "I've got the bad feeling that an apology is in order once this is all done. I wanted to scare them, but not literally scare them to death." He sighed. "I really need to get a better handle on my abilities. For now, I think I have enough time to come back around. I better find some cover to keep this character as intact as I can." He ducked into a garage near the yard they were in, but when he looked out the window at them, they were no longer there. "Nani? Where'd they..."

"Trap, hatsudo!" Out of nowhere, all of Yuga's Entermate Band members played their instruments (sung, in Vocalong's case) in unison, generating a loud and resonating note. Benedict looked out the window again, and this time he did see the group, and Yuga had an active Trap Card. " **Entermate Power Chord**! This card powers up 1 monster of each Type on our field! How much, you ask? That's easy: 200 Attack Points multiplied by the highest Pendulum Scale on the field!" Bassooboon in the Pendulum Zone joined in on the show, spreading his music to all the different monsters of their field, powering them up.

 **Vocalong ATK:5000**

 **Guitron ATK:4200**

 **Pianferno ATK:4400**

 **Dolfiddle ATK:3900**

 **Foxtrot Flare ATK:4900**

 **Formula Fighter ATK:5200**

 **Battery Three ATK:4100**

"You…" Benedict started in his normal voice before he cleared his throat, talking in his deeper voice again. "You think that's going to be enough?"

"I've got some extra reserves. Watashi no turn. Draw!" Tamotsu drew his card. "Magic Card, **Rampart Choke** , hatsudo! This turn, if a Rampart Revenant monster battles, no cards or effects can be activated until the battle ends!" Barricade Zero hefted its earth shield up before slamming it into the ground, sprouting walls on Shock Doctor's sides and forming a chokepoint that he couldn't move from.

"Then I'll just use one now." Benedict snapped. "When I control Shock Doctor, I can activate this Quick-Play Magic from my hand! **Overwhelming Presence** , hatsudo!" Shock Doctor's body became covered in electricity. "Now, not only does he gain 500 Attack Points, but now you must discard a card from your hand before you can activate any card effects or declare an attack this turn!"

 **Shock Doctor ATK:3000**

"That's fine by me." Tamotsu said as he discarded a card. "Battery Three, attack Shock Doctor now!" The three soldiers lit their cannons before they fired stone cannonballs.

"One thing I forgot to mention." Benedict spoke up. "My card also keeps the Doctor from being destroyed, and this lasts until my End Phase." The Doctor used his stick to knock the Cannonballs to the ground, but the shockwaves they caused could still be felt by Benedict in his hiding spot.

 **Benedict LP: 6400**

"Fair enough." Tamotsu sighed. "Let's see what you've got. Turn end."

"What I've got is quite a bit." Benedict told them from his hiding place. "What you don't know is, thanks to a card I drew on my last turn, I've been able to draw cards during each of your Draw Phases."

"Eh?! Seriously?!" Yuga whined.

"Part of the perks of being the lone party. You have no idea how many cards I have to burn to keep up with you. Ore no turn! Draw!" Benedict drew his card. "Now then, I think first I should remind you that each time you've battled with the Doctor, or even through the Doctor's own effect, most of your monsters now have at least one Madness Counter on them."

 **Vocalong: 2 Madness Counters**

 **Pianferno: 1 Madness Counter**

 **Dolfiddle: 1 Madness Counter**

 **Victor Variance: 2 Madness Counters**

 **Formula Fighter: 1 Madness Counter**

 **Battery Three: 2 Madness Counters**

 **Barricade Zero: 2 Madness Counters**

"Magic Card, **Iridescent King** , hatsudo! In exchange for not using my monster's effect this turn, ALL of your monsters now gain 3 Madness Counters!" A glass King chess piece appeared, and Shock Doctor took it and crushed it in his hand. The act of doing this overcharged the electricity flowing through him until it burst, striking all the monsters on the field and even passing through the Duelists.

 **Vocalong: 5 Madness Counters**

 **Guitron: 3 Madness Counters**

 **Pianferno: 4 Madness Counters**

 **Dolfiddle: 4 Madness Counters**

 **Victor Variance: 5 Madness Counters**

 **Foxtrot Flare: 3 Madness Counters**

 **Formula Fighter: 4 Madness Counters**

 **Battery Three: 5 Madness Counters**

 **Barricade Zero: 5 Madness Counters**

As the electricity flashed across the field, Kazehana felt a zap from it. "OW! Does your power have a frayed wire?!" She asked him, annoyed. Suddenly, the electricity flashed again, seemingly in her eyes, and it briefly took the shape of the Doctor's twisted face. "N-Nanda?!" The same thing happened to the others, showing twisted and distorted faces.

"Now that you're all properly maddened, allow me to explain what happens now." Benedict said. "With 1 or 2 Madness Counters, a monster loses 300 Attack and Defense for every Madness Counter it has. 3 or 4 make it so that you have to flip a coin and call the result when you activate a Magic or Trap, otherwise you must flip it facedown. 5 or 6, and you can't attack or activate effects until you can get as many Heads as you have Counters when you flip 6 coins."

 **Vocalong ATK:1300**

 **Guitron ATK:1100**

 **Pianferno ATK:1000**

 **Dolfiddle ATK: 500**

 **Victor Variance ATK:3200**

 **Foxtrot Flare ATK:1800**

 **Formula Fighter ATK:1800**

 **Battery Three ATK:400**

 **Barricade Zero DEF:1300**

"You have got to be kidding me!" Shihime griped. "We can barely do anything now!"

"I'm starting to understand why all his monsters have 0 Defense Points." Tamotsu said. "It's the only compensation for the over-powered effects."

"Now, let's see how many kills I can rack up." Benedict taunted. "Magic Card, **Bloodlust** , hatsudo! This gives my monster 500 Attack Points, and I can have it attack again when I successfully destroy one of your monsters. Think of it as letting my monster become Ultimate Tyranno."

 **Shock Doctor ATK:3000**

Thinking fast, Yuga grabbed a nearby Action Card and he slid it into his Duel Disk. Immediately, a coin appeared, and he flipped it. "Heads!" He caught the coin and revealed the result to be Heads. The Action Card he played then revealed itself. "Action Magic, **This Is Not Happening!** , hatsudo! This card lets me flip once. And if I call it right, Coin Tosses don't have to be performed for the rest of this turn!"

"Hmm. That's quite a gamble." Benedict mused. "Are you up for it?"

"It wouldn't be much of a performance if I wasn't." Yuga retorted, to which Benedict couldn't help giving a bit of a smile. He then tossed and caught the new coin that had appeared. "Tails!" He showed the coin, and it was Tails. The four friends cheered at the success, and if they could see Benedict, they would see that he was silently admiring the feat that he just saw. "Stand your ground, guys..." Yuga told his friends. "We'll get through this!"

"We'll see." Benedict said, his hand on his chin. "After all, I still have my Sloppy Butcher. Shock Doctor, attack Victor Variance!" The Doctor charged forward, his electrified stick at the ready.

"You're attacking me?" Shihime asked in surprise. "Even with your little Counters in effect, my monster is still stronger." Though Variance was feeling the effects of the zapping, he was still able to block the Doctor's attack by parrying the stick with his cannon.

Benedict picked up a nearby Action Card. "Action Magic, **Agitation** , hatsudo! During the Damage Step of when my monster attacks this turn, he gains 400 Attack points until after damage is inflicted."

 **Shock Doctor ATK:3400**

"So, that's it, huh?" Shihime mused before holding up her own Action Card she found earlier. "Action Magic, Miracle, hatsudo! This card prevents Victor Variance from being destroyed by battle this turn and cuts the battle damage in half!" Variance managed to swing his cannon hard enough to knock Doctor away from him.

"Dark Hex of Hope Devouring, hatsudo! Miracle is banished after it's effect resolves. Also, Sloppy Butcher, hatsudo! The Battle Damage Shock Doctor inflicts is doubled!"

 **Shihime LP: 1025**

"Play With Your Food, hatsudo!" He continued, rattling off his various cards. "Since my attack target wasn't destroyed this turn, I can attack again. Attack Formula Fighter!" The Doctor turned around and made a beeline for the racer robot.

"Flashlight no kouka hatsudo!" Yuga called out. "By using one of the Flash Counters on Vocalong, I can negate your attack!" Vocalong held up her flashlight and shined it right in the Doctor's face, blinding him and making him stop.

Benedict angrily clicked his tongue at this. "I forgot you had that." He huffed. "No matter. I still have one more attack through Play with your Food. Attack Pianferno!"

As Doctor turned toward the fiery pianist, Yuga held up another Action Card with a whistle. "Action Magic, Damage Banish, hatsudo! No matter which monster is destroyed, I take no battle damage from that battle!"

"Dark Hex of Hope Devouring, hatsudo!" The Doctor's stick came down on Pianferno, destroying his instrument before destroying him. Thankfully, the Action Card created a barrier that blocked his electricity. "Too bad you didn't use your Flashlight then. Because I destroyed a monster, Bloodlust lets me attack again. Now, how about another dance, princess?" The Doctor turned again and ran toward Foxtrot Flare.

Shihime quickly looked to her side and noticed an Action Card, grabbing it without thinking. Luckily, it was a Magic Card. "Action Magic, **Borrowed Time** , hatsudo! This card reduces the damage I take from this battle to 0!"

"Dark Hex of Hope Devouring, hatsudo!" Shock Doctor struck the less-decorated officer and obliterated her, but like with Yuga, the electrical energy was blocked by a barrier which faded away after the attack. "Now, attack Guitron!"

The Doctor headed back to Yuga's field. Yuga quickly grabbed another nearby Action Card. "Action Magic, Damage Banish, hatsudo!"

"Two in a row? Some luck you have there." Benedict mused as the Doctor's lightning obliterated the robot.

"You don't see me complaining."

"I suppose not. And I suppose you also didn't notice that were all the defensive moves you all have done, I now have what I need to end one of you."

"Nani?" All four of the kids exclaimed.

"Because Music Man over there was gracious enough to give me a card on my last turn, I now have a total of 5 cards banished by my Hex's effect." Benedict explained. "Now, I can activate one of its effects. If I had stopped at 2 cards, my monster would have added half of its original Attack Points to its current ones. 3 would have let me automatically destroy one of your monsters. But I waited until I could banish 5, because now not only can my monster attack again, it can attack one of you directly!" At that moment, a flash of lightning made Shock Doctor completely disappear.

"Huh? Where'd it go?" Shihime asked.

Kazehana looked around, but then she froze as she suddenly heard the strange wheezing coming from uncomfortably close behind her. "Kaze, watch out!" Tamotsu called out, but just as Kazehana started to look behind her, the Doctor roared and slammed his stick downward, the lightning causing a loud explosion and a cloud of dust.

"Kaze-chan!" Yuga screamed, Shihime falling to her knees in horror.

Benedict merely laughed at this. "One down."

"...Not yet...!" Kazehana's voice came out from the dust. Benedict was startled enough to actually peek out of his hiding spot, and he was shocked to see Kazehana was not only still standing, but actually smiling. "Hehehe... I'm glad I kept this." Kazehana said as she pointed to an Action Card in front of her. "Action Magic, **Unbreakable**! You might've brought my Life Points to 0, but this card kept me from losing the Duel and gave me 1000 more Life Points!"

 **Kazehana LP: 1000**

"Kuso!" Benedict seethed after moving back behind his spot. "All that build-up wasted!"

Shihime jumped back to her feet and gave Kazehana a thumbs-up. "Nice save, Kaze-chan!" Kazehana gave one of her own in return.

"Very well done, I admit!" Benedict called out to them. "But it's not like you can do much else. Your luck is about to run out."

"Don't be too sure..." Yuga told him. "Until our Life Points are 0, this Duel's not over!"

"Then it will be over soon enough. Turn End."

Yuga went for his Deck. "Ore no... turn!" He drew his card and smiled when he saw what it was. "Time to turn up the music! Pendyuramu Shoukan!" The portal above opened up, and three beams of energy shot down. "Return, Guitron and Pianferno! Koi, Entermate Band Nagong!" Guitron and Pianferno returned to the field, alongside a powder blue rattlesnake that was somehow wearing the same bright clothing as the others, headphones slung around where its neck would be, coiled around a small gong.

 **Entermate Band Nagong: Lv.4 EARTH Reptile/Pendulum ATK:1600/DEF:800**

"Guitron no kouka hatsudo!" Guitron strummed its guitar as Yuga drew 4 cards for controlling 4 other Types. "Yosh. My band's all together, so it's time for the star to shine!" Vocalong, despite her clearly shaken exterior, started to regain the fire in her eyes.

"Not so fast!" Benedict exclaimed. "Don't forget, Your Vocalong cannot attack or use its effect as long as it has 5 or 6 Madness Counters. And the only way to get rid of them is to flip for it."

"Then let's start the metronome." Yuga replied as six coins appeared in mid-air. "And FLIP!" All six coins were flipped the minute he said that, and one by one they landed: 4 Heads, 2 Tails.

Benedict was dumbfounded by this feat, so much so that he broke character again. "Masaka! You have gotta be the luckiest kid I've ever Dueled!"

Kazehana couldn't help but grin. "What, you've never been messed up by luck before? That's part of a Duel, dude!" Vocalong shook off some of her madness, staring through the darkness at Benedict.

 **Vocalong ATK:2500 1 Madness Counter**

"I… Ahem! I've seen luck before, but this is a surprising and refreshing other level. The Entity will enjoy feasting on your hope once your luck runs out."

"We'll see. Since my field is full of different Types, Vocalong can finally use her effects!" Yuga declared. Vocalong cleared her throat before letting out a note. "First effect! The Attack and Defense Points of all monsters on the field become their original amounts!" Her rousing voice cost some of the monsters their power, but the rest of them, including Vocalong herself, were able to fully shake off her madness and regain her poise.

 **Vocalong ATK:2800**

"Second effect! Vocalong can attack directly this turn!"

"Nani?" Vocalong took a deep breath before unleashes another powerful sonic blast. Benedict held his ears as the blast echoed through the garage, shattering the windows.

 **Benedict LP: 4700**

"Third effect! If battle damage was inflicted from that attack, all monsters the opponent controls with less Attack Points than the damage dealt are destroyed!" Vocalong's note turned incredibly high, causing Doctor to scream in pain at the sheer acute sound, until his body began to crack, allowing the dark fog to seep out of his body until he finally exploded, sending the fog everywhere and surrounding everyone.

* * *

 _ **Author-Made Cards  
**_

Casket Chain Carrier (RK777)  
Level 4 DARK Fiend/Dark Tuner  
ATK:0/DEF:900  
If this card is used as a Dark Synchro Material Monster: You can banish 1 Dark Synchro Monster from your Graveyard as a Material for this Dark Synchro Summon.

Entermate Band Guitron  
Level 4 EARTH Machine/Pendulum (Scale ?)  
ATK:1600/DEF:800  
Pendulum Effect: _**Unconfirmed**_  
Monster Effect: If this card is Pendulum Summoned: Draw cards equal to the number of different Types you control.

Entermate Band Nagong  
Level 5 DARK Machine/Pendulum (Scale 6)  
ATK:2000/DEF:1400  
 _ **Effects Currently Unconfirmed**_

Thermal Force – Foxtrot Flare  
Level 6 FIRE Psychic  
ATK:1900/DEF:2300  
If this card was Tribute Summoned using a FIRE or WATER monster as a Tribute, monsters you control with the Attribute not Tributed for this card's Summon gain 800 ATK.

Horizon Gear Gravity Scooter  
Level 2 WIND Machine/Tuner  
ATK:1100/DEF:700  
 _ **Effects Currently Unconfirmed**_

Horizon Gear Drop Chute  
Level 1 WIND Machine  
ATK:400/DEF:100  
If you Summon a Level 2 monster: You can Special Summon this card from your hand.

Servant of the Entity - Shock Doctor (RK777)  
Level -7 DARK Fiend/Dark Synchro  
ATK:2500/DEF:0  
1 non-Tuner monster - 1 Dark Tuner monster  
Once per turn, you can move this card to an adjacent unoccupied Monster Card Zone. Once per turn: You can place 2 Madness Counters on an opponent's monster in the same column as this card and 1 Madness Counter on any of your opponent's monsters in the adjacent columns. Monsters with Madness Counters on them gain the following effects.  
1-2: This card loses 300 ATK and DEF for each Madness Counter it has.  
3-4: If you activate a Spell or Trap Card, toss a coin and call it. If you call it wrong, negate the activation, then Set that card.  
5-6: This card cannot attack or activate its effects while it has Madness Counters. During your Standby Phase: You can toss a coin 6 times, and if you do remove 1 Madness Counter from this card for each Heads.

Horizon Gear Plateau Scale  
Level 5 WIND Machine/Synchro  
ATK:2100/DEF:1800  
1 Tuner + 1 or more non-Tuner monsters  
If this card was Synchro Summoned using a Tuner Synchro Monster as a Material: Draw cards equal to that Tuner Synchro Monster's Level.

Horizon Gear Aqua Rider  
Level 3 WIND Machine/Synchro/Tuner  
ATK:1500/DEF:1300  
1 Tuner + 1 or more non-Tuner monsters  
Effects Currently Unconfirmed

Horizon Gear Formula Fighter  
Level 8 WIND Machine/Synchro  
ATK:3000/DEF:3000  
1 Tuner Synchro Monster + 1 or more non-Tuner WIND monsters  
If this card attacks an opponent's monster: You can halve that monster's ATK, and if you do, this card can attack that monster twice this turn, but the first time you would destroy that monster by battle, it is not destroyed.

Hometown of Evil (RK777)  
Action Field Spell Card  
You can use Action Cards, but you can only have 1 Action Card in your hand at a time.

Grand Offering to the Entity (RK777)  
Normal Spell Card  
Banish all cards in your hand and all Spell Cards in your Graveyard; Toss a coin, and if you call it right, you draw 6 cards and then draw 1 card during your opponent's next Draw Phase, but if you call it wrong, your turn immediately ends.

Dark Armoring (RK777)  
Normal Spell Card  
Target 1 Dark Synchro Monster you control: Equip 1 Equip Spell Card from your Deck for every 3 Negative Levels it has.

Play With Your Food (RK777)  
Equip Spell Card  
Equip only to a "Servant of the Entity" monster. The equipped monster can attack three times during each Battle Phase. Twice per turn, during each Battle Phase, if a monster would be destroyed by battle with the equipped monster, it is not destroyed.

Overcharger (RK777)  
Equip Spell Card  
Equip only to a "Servant of the Entity" monster. If your opponent tosses a coin and the result is Tails: Inflict 500 damage to your opponent.

Recharge (RK777)  
Action Spell Card  
Target 1 monster you control that can no longer activate its effect this turn: It can activate its effect once more this turn.

Sloppy Butcher (RK777)  
Equip Spell Card  
Equip only to a "Servant of the Entity" monster. All Battle Damage your opponent takes from battles involving the equipped monster is doubled.

Doctor's Interview Tape (RK777)  
Equip Spell Card  
Equip only to "Servant of the Entity – Shock Doctor". If the equipped monster battles an opponent's monster, but does not destroy it by battle: Place 1 Madness Counter on that monster.

We'll Make It! (RK777)  
Action Spell Card  
Make any player's LP 3000.

Five Rounds Roast  
Normal Spell Card  
If the only monsters you control are FIRE "Thermal Force" monsters: Inflict damage to your opponent equal to the total Levels of all monsters you control x200.

Insidious (RK777)  
Action Spell Card  
You take no Effect Damage this turn.

Monstrous Shrine (RK777)  
Action Spell Card  
If your LP are less than half their starting amount and your opponents have activated 4 "Generator" cards: Halve all of your opponents' LP. (This effect is treated as your opponent activating "Hooked".)

Rampart Choke  
Normal Spell Card  
This turn, if a "Rampart Revenant" monster you control battles: Cards and effects cannot be activated until the end of the Damage Step.

Overwhelming Presence (RK777)  
Quick-Play Spell Card  
If you control "Servant of the Entity - Shock Doctor", you can activate this card from your hand during your opponent's turn. Target 1 monster you control: It cannot be destroyed by battle this turn, and it gains 500 ATK. This turn, your opponent must discard 1 card from their hand before activating the effect of a Monster, Spell, or Trap Card.

Iridescent King (RK777)  
Normal Spell Card  
If you control "Servant of the Entity - Shock Doctor": Place 3 Madness Counters on all face-up monsters your opponent controls, but if you do, you cannot activate the effects of "Servant of the Entity - Shock Doctor" this turn.

Bloodlust (RK777)  
Normal Spell Card  
Target 1 "Servant of the Entity" you control: It gains 500 ATK and if it destroys a monster by battle this turn, it can attack once again.

This Is Not Happening! (RK777)  
Action Spell Card  
Toss a coin and call it. If you call it right, you do not have to toss coins in order to use the effects of cards this turn.

Agitation (RK777)  
Action Spell Card  
During the Battle Phase, target 1 monster you control: It gains 400 ATK during damage calculation only.

Borrowed Time (RK777)  
Action Spell Card  
If you would take battle damage: Reduce that damage to 0.

Unbreakable (RK777)  
Action Spell Card  
Activate only if your LP become 0. You do not lose the Duel, and your LP become 1000.

Entermate Band Feedback  
Counter Trap Card  
This turn, you can negate a number of attacks equal to the number of different Types you control.

Dark Hex of Hope Devouring (RK777)  
Continuous Trap Card  
If you control a "Servant of the Entity" monster, this card can be activated the same turn it is set. When this card is activated, equip it to a "Servant of the Entity" you control, and if you do, place 1 Totem Counter on this card. (max. 1) If your opponent activates a Spell or Trap Card that would negate a battle, negate damage (through battle or card effect), or reduce damage to 0: Banish that card after its effect resolves. Once per turn, apply 1 of the following effects depending on the number of cards banished by this effect:  
2: Increase the equipped monster's current ATK by half of its original ATK until the end of this turn.  
3: When this card battles a monster, the opposing monster is automatically destroyed. (Battle Damage is applied normally)  
5: The equipped monster can attack your opponent's Life Points directly. If the equipped monster's attack was negated before activating this effect, it can attack again.

Entity's Invincible Servant (RK777)  
Counter Trap Card  
Target 1 "Servant of the Entity" monster you control: It cannot be destroyed until your next Standby Phase, and any Battle Damage you take from battles involving it is halved.

Rampart Charge  
Counter Trap Card  
If your opponent targets a monster you control for an attack or effect, target 1 "Rampart Revenant" monster you control: It becomes the new target of the attack or effect. While the target is face-up on the field, your opponent cannot target other monsters you control for attacks or effects.

Horizon Drive  
Normal Trap Card  
Synchro Summon 1 Level 5 or lower Synchro Monster, banishing monsters from your Graveyard as the Synchro Materials.

Entermate Power Chord  
Normal Trap Card  
All monsters you control gain ATK equal to the highest Pendulum Scale on the field x 200. You can only apply this effect to 1 monster per Type.

* * *

 **Vile: Another chapter that came down to the wire. Rocket's not here once again, largely because he had to get up early for a job he's doing tomorrow. That job is part of the time constraints mentioned for the Author-Made Cards, so please understand. Regardless, if you guys liked this chapter, leave a review for me! Halloween is upon us, and the final chapter will be out on the day (likely at the wire again because that has a habit of happening with me)! Ja ne for now!**

 **Computer Voice: Vile, logging out.**


	5. Chapter 5

**RK777: *flops into chair* It's done.**

 **Vile: We did it. We got it done in time for Halloween. *offers double highfive***

 **RK777: *high-fives back* Remind me the next time I have an idea like this to save it for when we have more time.**

 **Vile: Yeah, that was a definite time crunch we had to go through, but you know what? It honestly felt kinda rewarding to actually get through it all. We beat the odds.**

 **RK777: And then some. So, you want to try and use this momentum for the other stories we have collecting dust?**

 **Vile: It would definitely be a worthwhile thing to try. I've been out of practice a lot recently, especially due to the job I had until earlier this October, so it might be worth it to try and get myself back in gear. *looks to the readers* What do you guys think? If you feel like leaving a review, lemme know in that review, but until then, enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

Terror in A New Dimension

Chapter 5

The fog cleared up once more, and the group was back at the campfire once more, but there was a distinct positivity among them. "Woooo!" Kazehana cheered. "We've almost won this!"

"Almost isn't winning." Benedict's voice said to them in a rather miffed tone. Unlike the previous times, he was no longer visible from the fire's glow.

"Cut the crap, already." Shihime snapped at him. "Do you really need to keep your act going?"

"Hime, don't push him." Yuga said, trying to defuse things.

It wasn't working, though, as while they couldn't really see it, Benedict was glaring at them from the darkness. "One more Generator, then you need to find the card for the Exit Gate. And as you can tell, I'm done going easy on you."

"It certainly didn't feel like you were ever going easy with the way your power's been attacking us." Tamotsu snapped.

Yuga was about to say something to play peacemaker again when Benedict suddenly appeared behind Tamotsu, making them all jump. "You should have backed out in the beginning if that's how you feel. You knew the risks that come from dealing with someone from the Dark Synchro Dimension."

"A salty game master isn't exactly one of those things we expected to watch out for." Yuga said on a reflex, but he immediately knew that he shouldn't have said that.

"Salty? Game Master?" Benedict asked, his voice growing even darker and more evil then before. "This isn't a game... This is real!" He then threw a card into the fire, unleashing a large amount of smoke and fog.

"Nice one, Yuga." Shihime groaned as she coughed from the fog, but when there was no response, she knew she was alone again. "Okay, so where did I end up now?" Before the fog could lift and let her see, however, Shihime could feel something wet falling on her head: Rain. "Oh, lovely!" She cried as she ran trying to find some cover. As she ran out of the fog, she saw she was now in a large forest, the rain hitting the leaves and branches and overall just adding to the eerie tone of the field. Looking around for cover, she found a small wooden shack with smoke coming out of it. "Maybe I can find something there." Running toward the shack, she quickly got under the awning and shook off some of the water before opening the door. As she entered the shack, she saw it was a smokehouse, with wild game she couldn't recognize hanging from the ceiling. "Creepy..." She whispered to herself, but then she thought about the kind of place she was in. "This place does look like it needs power. Maybe the Generator's here."

As she looked around, Benedict stood far enough away, watching her. "They're as good as Zed said," Benedict said to himself in a way that both was and wasn't in character. "And this is probably going to be one of the best games played." He then went fully into character, his eyes almost glowing. "Better end it the best way I can. Ore no turn! Draw!" He drew his card and looked over his hand. "Not much here can help. Magic Card, Reload, hatsudo!" His hand was shuffled back into his Deck before he drew a better hand. "MUCH better. While I have a Dark Synchro Monster in my Graveyard, I can banish 3 monsters to Special Summon this card from my hand. I banish Fear Gripper, Casket Chain Carrier, and Shadowman!" All three of the above monsters vanished from his Graveyard, releasing black-and-purple energy that let out eerie moans. "Grand Mass of Vengeance, Tokushu Shoukan!" The energy billowed out of purple portals and weaved together, taking the form of a hulking monster that roared loudly.

 **Grand Mass of Vengeance: Lv. 11 DARK Fiend/Dark Tuner ATK:400/DEF:400**

"Now, the unique thing about this monster is I can use 2 monsters in my hand as the Dark Synchro Materials with him." Benedict said before clenching his fist. "So, I use The 13th Grave and The Creature in the Projector from my hand as the Materials!" His two monsters, a dark-colored skeleton and a weird horned creature seemingly made of ink, emerged from the cards as Vengeance's 11 black Level Stars formed a gateway, obliterating their bodies and revealing their 5 white Stars. The black Stars weaved like a serpent and devoured each white Star until only 6 black Stars were left, which merged together and gave off a black flash. "Daaku Shinkuro Shoukan!" From out of the black light, a new monster appeared… A more normal-looking woman compared to his other monsters. "The Hunt is on! Servant of the Entity - Forest Huntress!" The woman wore a wooden mask carved and painted to look like a rabbit. Her long skirt barely hid her bare feet, and in both hands she held a broad axe.

 **Servant of the Entity – Forest Huntress: Lv. -6 EARTH Fiend/Dark Synchro ATK:2350/DEF:0**

Shihime didn't notice any of what happened outside and continued her search around the smokehouse. "Come on... Where would it be?" However, as she searched, a sound began to fill the smokehouse. It sounded like… humming. A woman humming. "Huh?" Shihime looked around in confusion. "Is someone here?" No answer came, and the humming continued. It sounded like a mother's lullaby, and under normal circumstances she would've thought it was beautiful, but the way it was being sung just seemed… off to her. "I don't like the sound of this... I'd better hurry up."

Back outside, Benedict watched her move more frantically as the song continued, being revealed to be sung by Huntress herself. "Yes, this will do nicely, but she still needs her Perks." He took one card from his hand and equipped it to the monster. "Now then, Action Magic, **Bounty of Nature** , hatsudo. This lets me draw 3 cards." After he did so, he immediately placed one of them facedown and equipped another of them to his monster. "Finally, Magic Card, **Reclaimed from the Shadows** , hatsudo. This lets me take an Equip Spell from my Graveyard and place it on a monster I control, so long as it's a Servant of the Entity." A card popped out of his Graveyard, and he immediately equipped it to his monster. "I think I'm ready to show her what I have."

Back in the smokehouse, Shihime had checked every room and flipped multiple tables and other objects, but it was becoming clear that she was not going to find the gold-bordered card. "Kuso... It must not be here. I'd better look somewhere else." She said to herself as she headed for the exit, the humming still echoing in her ears. As she made her way out, she looked around, seeing nothing but woods and rain for miles. "Where the hell am I supposed to go?" She asked no one in particular as she started to walk away from the smokehouse, but not a second later, something whizzes right by her head, just barely missing her. "Waaah!" She cried, spinning around. The object was a hatchet, currently lodged in a tree. "What the hell?"

Suddenly, over the humming, Benedict's voice was heard. "I'm coming for you, little sausage!"

"Kuso…." Shihime cursed before she took off running.

"You can't hide this time!" The same sound of a hatchet flying was heard, but this time, Shihime felt both an impact and a sharp pain in her back, forcing her to fall forward onto her and knees.

"Ite..." She winced in pain, reaching up to feel her back and see what happened, but what she felt stunned her. It was something wet… but also warm and thick, definitely NOT the rainwater. "Eh?!" Her eyes going wide with dread, she slowly brought her hand back in front of her face, and her dread turned to sheer terror as she saw her fingers coated in something deep red in color. "N... Nani...?!" She choked out as she felt the sting of the pain, the pounding of her racing heart, and the absolute terror that ran through her mind. Then she heard the humming again. It sounded like it was all around her, and that just made things worse.

"I told you this was real." Benedict's voice echoes as she heard a rustling in the bushes near her.

Shihime tried to fight the pain and get away. "...You... Don't you realize... what you're doing?!"

"That was just my monster's effect. If you get hit by her Hatchet, you lose 500 Life Points."

 **Shihime LP:575**

She struggled to get up and run away, slipping back down in the slick grass. "If I die... you'll pay for this!"

Benedict chuckled. "You won't die so easily. That's what the hook is for." The humming started to get louder. Shihime struggled again to get to her feet and this time succeeded, and she tried to walk in spite of the intense pain, but she ended up tripping over a root and fell face first back on the wet ground. "Run all you want..." Benedict's voice echoed as Shihime started crying in fear. "I can always find you. Now then... let's end your monster and get you ready for your fate."

Hearing footsteps, Shihime looked back to see the masked woman walking towards her as heart began to pound like it was about to rip itself out of her chest. Her eyes filled with tears that were a mix of anger, fear, and pain. "G-Go away!" Shihime choked out, her voice breaking from all the emotions assaulting her. The Huntress stood over her, the song briefly ceasing and leaving no sound but the rain. "No!" Paying no heed to Shihime's plight, she raised her axe with intent to strike. "IYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

"SHIHIME!"

However, as Huntress was about to swing, a sudden flash of light illuminated her, and even through the mask, the light was so intense that she was forced to drop the axe and hide her eyes. Benedict, startled, looked in the light's direction and saw Entermate Band Vocalong pointing her Flashlight in Huntress's eyes, Yuga standing next to her. As Vocalong distracted Benedict's monster, Tamotsu ran past her and quickly picked up Shihime, who instinctively wrapped her arms tightly around his neck when she saw him.

"Let's go!" Tamotsu yelled to Yuga as he ran off with Shihime in his arms, Yuga following closely behind, Vocalong keeping the beam on Huntress long enough to ensure that they were far enough before going with them. Benedict saw this from his place in the forest and clenched his fist, onlymanaging to seethe as he watched them get away. After running a good ways, Yuga and Tamotsu got back to where they had left Kazehana, Barricade Zero currently providing some shelter some the rain with its shield. Once they got inside the cover and away from the overwhelming rain sound, Shihime's sobs became all too audible. "Shihime..." Tamotsu tried to say but he was cut off by her sobs.

"It… It hurts..." She finally choked out. "He hurt me..."

Tamotsu sat down on the ground, still holding her as she tightly clung to his neck. He sat in a way so she could sit in his lap, rubbing her hair to calm her down. "Hime..." He said gently. "It's not real."

"Yes it is!" She snapped at him, her eyes puffy and red. "Look at my hand!" She just about punched him in the nose as she thrust her hand into his face.

"There's nothing there!" Shihime looked again, and to her own surprise, what was once a thick layer of blood was nothing more than traces of it that quickly dissolved into pixels. Tamotsu moved a hand across her back and showed his hand to be completely clean. Seeing this, Shihime started to cry again, this time in both fear and relief. "Whatever he's doing, it's messing with our head. Real Solid Vision is staring to seem more like the real thing."

"I don't care how salty he's being, he should know when he's crossed a line!" Kazehana said, punching her palm to make a point. "If he doesn't calm down, I might have to really mess him up!"

"Calm down, Kaze." Yuga told her. "In a way, we asked for this."

Tamotsu gave Yuga the "second head" look. "How the heck did we ask to be scared THIS badly?"

"Because we've been treating this too much like a regular Duel."

"Eh?! But it's-"

Yuga cut Kazehana off before she could finish her sentence. "Don't you get it, Kaze? Zed warned us about this, but we barely listened!" He sighed. "In the back of my mind I wondered why he even felt like he needed to call us. Then it hit me: We weren't exactly adding much to the atmosphere as much as we could. You guys have been to some of the Duel Schools in the Pendulum Dimension. You've seen Hochun-san predict the future through a Duel. Seen Kyuando-san turn a Duel into a game show. Is this any different?"

"No, but they didn't get THIS mad when we actually played it as a Duel." Shihime whimpered.

"But they never ended up breaking character, either." Yuga mentioned. "Hochun-san would just think you a non-believer and would just let the Duel convince you one way or the other. Kyuando-san let it go because it's all part of the game. But this... this is deeper than that." He looked out into the forest. "He's trying to tell a story through this. A story of 4 people lost in a mad god's world, and even though we have to fight our way out of it, we've been acting like he's no different from us. That's why he wanted us to focus on the Generators so much: They're the key element of his story. And while we have, we've just been acting annoyed, pissed off, and not like the kinds of characters you'd see in a horror movie."

"To be fair, it's not like he should've EXPECTED us to tow that line, especially since we just found out about this game today, but I do understand what you're saying." Tamotsu said.

"Actually, I think that's how it was supposed to start. I mean, he was trying to set the creepy ambiance from the beginning and spread us out the across the map to throw us off and make the scares seem genuine. I mean, I heard Kaze scream after that first attack. That was legit fear.

"But I'm too used to Duels! I don't even watch horror movies!" Kazehana cried. "How am I supposed to know how to react?"

Shihime let out a sigh. "The problem here, Yuga, is that you're the only one who immediately picks up on how a game is supposed to go. Look at the rest of us. I come from Academia, Kaze's a daredevil, and Tamotsu was told stories of the Xyz Dimension's past. Our first instinct is not to play along when we're on the losing end. It's to fight with all we've got. We can't BE helpless!

"You're not supposed to be. I'm just saying think about how this game could be played beyond us." Yuga said, quickly noticing that he was confusing them a bit, so he gave an example. "Say I'm a Dark Synchro Dimensioner and you guys don't know me. Would you immediately trust me, especially given how Benedict's character has been most of this Duel?"

"No." Shihime, Kazehana, and Tamotsu all said bluntly.

"Hime, given your background and not our families' history, would you have even interacted with Kaze the first time you saw her?"

"Considering I've dealt with quite a few screwballs more dangerous than her before, no." Shihime said, making Kazehana look at her weirdly.

"And Kaze, would a fun-loving thrill seeker like you normally interact with a couple of too serious sticks-in-the-mud like those two?" Yuga asked, pointing to Shihime and Tamotsu.

"Heck no! I drove Daichi-kun nuts back home until he finally got off my case, and that took months!" Kazehana cried.

"You see? This isn't just an attempt at a grown-up haunted attraction. This is an attempt to try and bring people together in an unconventional way. Just like our parents and some of the friends they made, you find out who you friends are when times are most dire. This game can give people of all the Dimensions a chance to get to know others from across the plane." The other three looked amongst each other, realizing that Yuga had a very good point. "Believe me, I'm kicking myself because I know Tou-san would have figured this out a lot earlier than I did. Benedict's been trying hard to play the right part for this, and we haven't exactly been giving him the best kind of respect for it. But then, since we already knew each other, I don't think we could have seen that possibility right away anyway."

A brief moment of silence fell over the group before Kazehana broke it. "So, what do we do now?"

"We find that last Generator, and find the exit. We play defense rather than offense." Yuga replied. "We fight, but only as much as we need to. In short, we try to survive being hunted by this killer."

"And if Benedict keeps going too far? What happens then?" Tamotsu asked.

"Has he, though? The blood is as much Real Solid Vision as the rain. The illusions are just made from our own fears and imaginations. I think we're just subconsciously helping him play his role."

"Yuga, Real Solid Vision actually CAN hurt us. You know our dads told us about that." Shihime told him. "What if that hatchet DIDN'T stop short of hurting me for real? What if it ACTUALLY put a hole in my back?"

Yuga went silent to ponder that. While he didn't WANT to think Benedict would do that, he'd be lying if he said he trusted him not to at this point. Eventually, he came to a conclusion. "...At that point, that's when you stop playing the game, because once he crosses that line, he's stopped playing the game, too. When that happens, show no mercy." The other three nodded. They knew they didn't want to do it, but if push came to shove, they knew what to do.

At that moment, while their hearts weren't racing, they could suddenly hear the humming come back through the trees, making Shihime seethe. "His monster is coming. I heard that humming from it."

"We still need to find that Generator, but where is it?" Kazehana wondered.

"I found some kind of cottage earlier, but the Generator was already on in there." Tamotsu said.

"Then I guess we need to keep our eyes on the ground for a gold border." Yuga said before looking at his friends. "We may only have one chance after we get out of here. Can we do this?"

Kazehana double fistpumped with serious look. "Hai! We can't lose this easily!"

Tamotsu looked at Shihime, who clearly still looked terrified. He placed a hand on her shoulder to ease her. "We'll get through this. We just need to stick together."

Shihime looked right into Tamotsu's eyes. Admittedly, she was embarrassed at how much composure she lost because of what happened, but looking at Tamotsu, who was being this supportive, almost seemed to calm her down. Sniffling, she reached over and gave him a hug. "Arigatou, Tamotsu." Tamotsu was a bit flustered at this, but he hugged her back all the same, wanting to help her.

"You two better stick together." Yuga told them before addressing Kazehana. "You want me to go with you, Kaze?"

Kazehana nodded. "You helped me a lot, so I'm sticking with you, Yuga."

"Alright. Let's split back up." Yuga told them. "I'm guessing that Benedict's done with his turn, so Hime, you better act fast and heal yourself up. You'll need a cushion if he comes after you again."

Shihime nodded, but she was clearly still shaken by what had happened. Yuga chose not to press that matter as he and Kazehana ran out from Barricade Zero's cover. When they did, however, the humming seemed to fade away. "I think Benedict's following them." Tamotsu reasoned. "This could give us the chance we need." He slowly tried to stand up, helping Shihime to her feet as well.

As she finally brought herself to let go of Tamotsu, Shihime let out a breath. "Hai. Good thing I still have two Counters left for Medkit, so I'll use them on us." Victor Variance floated under Zero's shield and applied more bandages and antiseptic to them. As he did, though, the Medkit vanished due to the Counters being used up.

 **Shihime LP:1775**

 **Tamotsu LP:2075**

"Come on, let's see if we can find the card we need." Tamotsu said, Shihime nodding as they headed back into the rain, Victor and Zero following close behind.

However, Shihime still couldn't shake her feelings of inadequacy at how she let her defenses down, muttering something under her breath. "Papa..."

Tamotsu heard her, though. "Eh? What's wrong, Hime?"

"Huh?" Shihime was startled by this. "...I ...I just..." Feeling her slow down, Tamotsu brought them to another stop so she could speak. "…I wonder what Papa would think of me for what happened. He raised me to be a tough but fair leader, and... I feel like I've let him down a little."

She felt Tamotsu's hand be placed on her shoulder. "No one can be in control forever, Hime. Even your dad's been there." Shihime gave an "Eh?" in response. "My dad told me about Yuri-san. When they were our age, your dad didn't know what he was doing, and if he did, he didn't know it was wrong. When they eventually did become friends, he said that your dad was a good leader, but sometimes things just weren't in his control. You know what he did in that situation?"

"What?"

Tamotsu smiled. "He didn't give up. He kept on going to see it through."

Hearing that made Shihime give a smile back. "Hehe. That does sound like him." Tamotsu could see some of the sparkle return to her eyes as her Duel Disk beeped, signaling that it was her turn. "I won't give up... Watashi no turn. Draw!" She drew her card, but as she did, Victor Variance groaned in pain, catching everyone off guard. "Eh? Victor?" The monster stumbled enough to let Shihime see a hatchet like the one that hit her wedged in his back. It hadn't gone through his mechanics, but it was wedged firmly between his energy packs. "Ngh! The Killer got him!"

"Indeed I did." Benedict spoke. "My Forest Huntress can use her effect on any turn to either damage the Survivor or weaken their protectors."

 **Victor Variance ATK:1800**

"Kuso..." Shihime looked at her hand. "Maybe this can get me some better protection, then. Kaado ichi mai settei. Turn end!" A facedown emerged on her field.

"Not even going to try and put up a fight?" Benedict asked. "Letting the Entity take you into despair?"

"I'm not going to give up so easily... but I guess if I'm gonna win, I might as well make the Entity catch me." With that, Shihime and Tamotsu took off deeper into the forest, but as far as they ran, they could still hear the humming of the monster's song.

Benedict rubbed his chin as he processed this. "…An admirable sentiment." He said to himself. "The chase is back on... and I hope it stays that way. Start the race, and let's see who crosses the finish line first!" However, his attention was quickly caught by the revving of an engine from somewhere behind him.

"KISAMA!"

"Nani?" Benedict quickly spun around to see Formula Fighter bearing down on him, Kazehana riding on its back.

"I'm not about to let you torment my best friend like you did earlier! Boku no turn! Draw!" Kazehana drew her card before leaping off her monster. "Ikuze! Formula Fighter, attack his Huntress!" Formula Fighter leapt off the ground into a front flip. "Shift Down!" As it completed the flip, Fighter pulled its lever, slowing down time once again and weakening Huntress.

 **Forest Huntress ATK:2175**

"Eh? I thought that monster only had 2350 Attack Points!" Kazehana said, having looked up the monster earlier.

"You seem to forget about the Perks my monster can have." Benedict replied. "For example, Fire Up. This grants my monster 500 more Attack Points for each card in my opponent's Graveyard that requires a coin toss. Fortunately for you, it only goes up to 2000." Despite the unexpected power boost, Fighter continued on and gave Huntress a flying kick, rebounding off her to return to Kazehana's field.

 **Benedict LP: 3875**

"Still think you can out-muscle me, do you?"

Kazehana merely grinned. "Not really. I just wanted to get your attention!" She said before she hopped back on Formula's back. "You want me? Let's play Tag!" With that, Formula revved up its motor and raced off.

Benedict couldn't help a smile growing on his face: One that wasn't as malicious as his others, being more… genuinely playful. "So, you wish to play games during your final moments, eh?" He asked with subdued creepiness. "Very well. I'll grant your last wish." Benedict and Huntress followed after Kazehana, Huntress's song following them... and both of them completely unaware that they passed by Yuga, who was taking cover nearby.

Yuga grinned at the fact that Kazehana's distraction play had worked. "Kaze, you little daredevil. I owe you for this." He said before running off in the same direction he saw Shihime and Tamotsu head earlier. Since splitting up didn't work as well as he'd hope, he knew he needed to give them some backup.

Speaking of Shihime and Tamotsu, as they looked around the forest, they came across what looked like an abandoned camp site. Then, Tamotsu saw something: A gold-bordered card on the ground. "There it is!"

"Alright! Let's get this done and get out of here!" Shihime chirped. It was then that Yuga found his way to the campsite, surprising them. "Yuga? What are you doing here? Where's Kaze-chan?"

"She's being a distraction and giving us time to repair the last Generator." Yuga replied.

"Then as cold as this might sound, let's not let this go to waste." Tamotsu said before flipping over the card, making the Generator appear. He picked up the coins and walked back to the others. "Admittedly, I'd rather do this with us all together." He handed one coin each to Yuga and Shihime, leaving him with two.

Shihime nodded. "Yeah. Let's do this." She flipped her coin, which landed on Heads.

"Then we can go and get her." Yuga said before flipping his coin: Another Heads.

"Here goes." Tamotsu flipped both his coins and watched as they landed on the ground, both landing on Heads: A success. The coins flew into the generator and started bringing it to life, but as they did, a mechanical whoop was heard echoing through the forest.

 **Generators Powered: 5**

"What the heck was that sound?" Yuga wondered.

Scanning the field, Shihime could see something glowing in the distance, which she pointed out. "There!" The others looked and narrowed their eyes. Through the light fog, they could see what looked like a glowing card floating in the air. "That's gotta be the Exit Card!"

"Well, let's get going!" Yuga cried.

"I'll go back and try and help Kazehana." Tamotsu told him. "We're all getting out of there. Together."

Yuga nodded. "Right!"

"Good luck, Tamotsu!" Shihime said before Tamotsu ran in the direction Yuga came from, Yuga and Shihime bolting for the Exit Card.

Meanwhile, Kazehana brought Formula Fighter to a clearing in the forest, the Horizon Gear bobbing and weaving as hatchets kept flying its way, even kicking one away from it. "Come on, you're so close!" Kazehana cried to Benedict as Huntress came into view, her body heaving with pants despite her song being completely uninterrupted.

Benedict also came into view not long after, and while he was also a bit out of breath, he couldn't help but have a smile on his face. "You are… a truly fun quarry to chase." He mused. "It's rare that the Entity actually gets some genuine exercise in pursuit of prey, and fighting back doesn't qualify as exercise. It appears that you have finally understood your place in this world."

"I guess you could say that." Kazehana replied. "I'm not gonna go quietly, but I might as well do so in a more fun way, y'know?"

A chuckle came from Benedict. "Your spirit will be tasty…" However, the mechanical whoop sound echoed to their end of the forest, causing Benedict's eyes to go wide. "Nani?!" He quickly looked around before spotting a faint glow in the distance. "The Exit?!"

"Yosh! They did it!" Kazehana cried. "They fixed the last Generator!"

Benedict slowly turned back to Kazehana, his smile somehow not fading. "So that was your plan! You were leading me on a goose chase to buy your friends time!" He gave a bit of genuine applause. "Admirable. Very admirable. Even the Entity has respect for you." Kazehana rubbed the back of her head. "However… That means that as fun as this is, I have to cut this game short. There's no time to find a Hook… so I'll end you in battle!"

"On my turn with less Attack Points?" Kazehana asked rhetorically.

"You seem to forget what I'm capable of." Benedict said. "I activate the effect of my Equip Magic: **Beast of Prey**! By merely discarding a card from my hand… your monster is now forced to attack my Huntress if it can, and due to its own effect, it is able to do so." The minute he discarded his card, a dark aura billowed from Huntress's body as her humming increased in tempo. The aura affected Formula Fighter and caused his body to start going haywire, making Kazehana nervous. "In addition to this, my monster is no longer affected by any card effects, rendering your power hindrance useless!" Apparently coming to the end of her song, Huntress sung the last note loudly and forcefully, causing the time slow to end prematurely.

 **Forest Huntress ATK:4300**

"Shimata!" Kazehana cried before Fighter's body jerked and knocked her off, the robot standing its ground against the approaching Huntress.

"Let it be known that this is not personal." Benedict told her. "You fought hard… but not everyone gets out alive. Destroy the robot, Huntress!" Brandishing her axe, Huntress charged forward with the dark aura surrounding her… only to vanish right before she got to it. Fighter looked around trying to find her, only for her song to resume and seem to come from all around it. Then, pain. Sharp pain in the back. Fighter's eyes slowly dimmed as it fell over limply, a hatchet buried in its back with Huntress standing right behind it, and its body was engulfed in a powerful explosion that knocked Kazehana back from the sheer force. "AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!" Her flight was short-lived as she hit the ground soon after, merely laying there in the pouring rain.

Huntress slowly approached the downed girl, staring at her through the rabbit mask with an unbroken tempo in her song. "And thus, a worthy quarry's chase… comes to an end." Benedict mused as Huntress rose her axe, and with a snap of his fingers… the axe came down.

Tamotsu heard Kazehana's scream as he approached her direction, scaring him into picking up his pace. _'Please be alright, please be alright, please be alright…'_ He eventually found Benedict and his monster standing there, Huntress's axe outstretched. "Kazehana!"

Benedict turned to look at Tamotsu. "I'm afraid you are too late to save her." He said as Huntress moved to show Kazehana on the ground… the axe merely touching her Duel Disk rather than any part of her body. "That said, her last act on your behalf was… exhilarating. The Entitiy was very pleased by it, and thus, I made it quick and painless, sparing her a more horrible fate."

 **Kazehana LP:0 – ELIMINATED**

Tamotsu ran past Benedict's monster and knelt beside Kazehana's body. Even though there wasn't a scratch on her body and she was still clearly breathing, she wasn't moving, and when he tried to shake her awake, she remained limp and out cold. "What did you do to her?!" He growled while glaring at Benedict.

Benedict smirked. "The same thing I'll do to you."

Tamotsu's Duel Disk beeped to signal his turn, so he stood up and gave a steeled stare. "Come and get me, then. Watashi no turn... Draw!" He drew his card, but as he did, he saw an Action Card and grabbed it, adding it to his hand when he saw that it was a Magic. "Rampart Revenant - Turret Eight, Shoukan!" A construct resembling a spire made of several gravestones emerged, and from within, eight cannons appeared from holes in the sides.

 **Rampart Revenant – Turret Eight: Lv.4 EARTH Zombie ATK:2000/DEF:0**

"I also switch Barricade Zero to Attack Position." Zero picked its shield off the ground and held it to its side, glaring at Benedict.

"A futile effort." Benedict mused.

"Is it? Barricade Zero is the one battling your monster this time, however..." Tamotsu took the Action Card he had found earlier. "Action Magic, **Beckoning** , hatsudo! This card treats your monster as the attacking monster for this battle."

"And what good does that do?" Huntress saw a shadowy hand telling her to bring it on, making her charge forward.

"It does this. Barricade Zero no kouka hatsudo!" One of the monster's Overlay Units was absorbed by its shield, which it held back in front of its body as it began to glow white. "If a Rampart Revenant monster is attacked by an opponent's monster, I can use an Overlay Unit to not only negate the attack, but reduce the attacker's Attack Points to 0!"

"So that's your plan." White orbs began to emerge from Zero's shield before they dislodged from it and flew toward Huntress in the form of moaning skulls. The spirit skulls bombarded Huntress, sapping her of her strength and making her drop her axe.

 **Barricade Zero: 1 Overlay Unit**

 **Forest Huntress ATK:0**

"Precisely. Turret Eight can only attack if I control another Rampart Revenant monster, but since I do, it can crush your Killer." Tamotsu said as the spire's cannons started moving, training their aim on Huntress as best they could. "Even if I fail… at least Yuga and Shihime have a chance. Fire!" All eight cannons fired stone cannonballs, but the ones that couldn't accurately aim at Huntress glowed white, actually turning around mid-flight so all of them were bearing down on her.

Benedict looked around and managed to find an Action Card, which he quickly grabbed and checked. "…And fail you shall! Action Magic, **Vengeful Hook** , hatsudo! If a Servant of the Entity monster is about to be destroyed by battle, it survives the encounter!" The cannonballs pelted Huntress's entire body, tearing part of her clothing and breaking off the right side of her mask, revealing her scarred, glowing blue eye.

 **Benedict LP:1875**

"In addition, to repay you for your efforts…" A black aura surrounded Huntress. "This card is treated as another Hook, which is your third!" Going from a song to a scream, Huntress released her aura, which charged toward Tamotsu in the form of a being of shadows. A Hook on a pole emerged behind Tamotsu as the being grabbed him, immediately causing the world around him to vanish in shadows before he was unceremoniously slammed onto the hook for the third time.

The pain of the hook was slightly duller than before, but was still harsh. "So that's how you choose to end it, huh?" A distorted voice resembling Tamotsu's said, causing the boy to look up and see his dragonic copy once more. "Not with a bang, but a whimper. Dying a hero instead of emerging victorious."

Tamotsu panted before managing to answer. "It was all I could do… and I'm not ashamed to give what I had left for my friends' sake."

Dragon Tamotsu sighed angrily as the dragonic version of Yuto appeared beside him. "It's no use trying to strike fear in the heart of someone who's prepared to die." He said, staring at the boy on the Hook. "All that's left is to finish the job." Extending his wings, Dragon Yuto had purple orbs on his body glow and generate electricity that was channeled toward his mouth, while Dragon Tamotsu gathered white energy into his own mouth. "FAREWELL!" Both of them fired powerful blasts of energy, merging together into a light purple beam that barreled toward Tamotsu… only for what appeared to be a giant, dark red, spire-like appendage to impact the ground in front of him and cause the attack to dissipate harmlessly on impact.

"Nani?" Dragon Tamotsu cried before the two looked up, going wide-eyed at the sight of a creature in the darkness above: A dark red… ENTITY of some sort with many limbs, incomprehensible to the mind beyond its superficial resemblance to a spider. The creature focused a trio of white eyes on Tamotsu, who by this point had completely passed out on the Hook. It let out a small hiss before briefly touching his neck with one leg, drawing red energy up through the leg before detaching and retreating into the darkness.

 **Tamotsu – ELIMINATED (Hooked: 3)**

As the illusion faded, Benedict approached the fallen Tamotsu on the ground, looking at him with intrigue. "The Entity found you just as worthy of mercy as your friend… You are truly special cases indeed." He then looked toward the Exit Gate. "I have no time to lose."

*Meanwhile*

Yuga and Shihime began to make it through the deeper parts of the forest, eventually coming to what appeared to be a main trail. In the short distance, they could see what appeared to be the wall of thorny vines they saw on the last field, and in the center was a large metal door. Floating in front of the switch that powered it was the glowing card. "We made it!" Yuga cried.

"Kaze-chan and Tamo-kun did so much for us to get us this far…" Shihime breathed, having checked her Duel Disk previously and realizing that both of them had been knocked out. She sighed. "Let's not make their sacrifices in vain!" Yuga nodded as they continued on to the Exit Gate.

However, a hatchet whizzed by their heads and lodged into the actual gate, making them spin around and see that Benedict was approaching them. His monster was nowhere to be seen, but her song was heard clearly. "So, it comes to this. The Survivors on the path to the end, and the Killer hot on their heels. The turn is mine, so it's down to this to see who wins!"

"Yuga… Go for the Exit." Shihime told him.

"Nani? Shihime!" Yuga replied.

"Just go!" The girl shot back. "…At the very least, I can give you the chance to get away." Shihime turned back to Benedict as Yuga, though hesitant, finally took off for the gate with his monsters.

"Your team spirit has been very powerful indeed." Benedict said as he drew his card. "But I refuse to allow your victory so easily! Yuga does not have the Life Points required to survive my assault, so I will strike him down first!"

"Not on your life." Shihime told him before holding up an Action Card. "Action Magic, **Object of Obsession** , hatsudo!" Victor Variance floated in front of her, holding out his arms to attempt to block off access to Yuga and his monsters. "With this card, you have no choice but to attack Victor Variance this turn!"

"Turning yourselves into dominoes just so even one of you can win…" Benedict mused. "…You are true companions. Huntress, destroy her monster." Another hatchet flew out from the tress in his direction.

However, Shihime swiped another Action Card from a nearby tree. "Action Magic, **Decisive Strike** , hatsudo! This card negates your attack, halves your monster's original Attack Points, and then inflicts those halved points to you as damage!" Slamming his cannons together, Variance fired a single shot charged with both elements, striking the hatchet mid-flight and obliterating both of them, the shockwave from the blast hitting Benedict.

 **Benedict LP:700**

Benedict stared at Shihime, who was panting and clearly exhausted. "You've certainly given it your all in this final stretch…" He breathed before holding up an Action Card. "The Entity shall now pass judgment on you. Action Magic, **Hook Hunter** , hatsudo! By banishing Shock Doctor from my Graveyard, I can immediately active a Hooked card and apply it to any one Duelist!" Shock Doctor vanished from within the Graveyard, but doing so released electricity from a purple portal that took the form of the Doctor's silhouette. Holding out a hand, it released an electric pulse that electrified one of the Action Cards, flipping it around to reveal a Hooked card and morphing it into the pole and hook. Shihime groaned in fear and dread at this sight, only to find the Doctor's silhouette right in front of her, grabbing her (yet somehow not electrocuting her) and carrying her toward the hook. "Your memory shall be honored, girl!"

"FORGET IT!"

Out of nowhere, streaks of energy shot through the hook and began to dismantle it, reducing the apparatus to nothing more than scrap and kindling. "Nani?!" Benedict cried. When this happened, a sudden loud cry caused the Doctor's image to moan and flicker before finally vanishing from existence.

This, however, made it drop Shihime, but she was quickly caught once again. Looking up, she saw the friendly dragonic face of Yuga's ace. "Vocalong?" She asked, getting a nod from the dragon.

"You're not taking anyone else, Benedict." Yuga's voice said, making everyone look back at him. He didn't have far to go toward the gate, but he had clearly stopped moving towards it. "We promised to get as many of us out alive as possible. We came here together… and we're leaving here together." Shihime smiled at him as he pointed to an Action Card. "Action Magic, **Saboteur**. Your Trap Card was negated the minute it was activated." Yuga moved his finger to call Vocalong over, and the dragon carried Shihime to him.

"Arigatou, Yuga." She said to him, making him give her a thumbs-up, but she then stumbled a bit. Yuga quickly caught her, slinging her arm around his shoulders to help her walk. As they started to walk toward the gate together, Yuga's five monsters created a living wall to prevent Benedict from chasing them.

Benedict saw this, but he made no move to walk after them. "…Jotto mate." He said simply, making Yuga and Shihime look back at him. "If you're going to leave… you'll want to take them with you." He whistled, and Forest Huntress emerged from the trees. Slung over her shoulders were the unconscious bodies of Kazehana and Tamotsu, who she gently laid on the ground before backing off, giving plenty of distance between her and Yuga's monsters. "The Entity recognizes when it has been defeated. Your combined efforts were respectable, and it had appeased it enough to show them mercy. Take them from here… and return to your home." Vocalong and Guitron approached the unconscious teens, each of them picking one up under the watchful eye of the other three monsters and bringing them back to Yuga and Shihime, Benedict and Huntress making no attempts to stop them. Looking at each other then to their friends, Yuga and Shihime nodded at each other before walking toward the gate with their monsters in tow. When they reached the gate, both teens took hold of the glowing card, labeled "Exit Gate", and bright light filled their vision.

 **Yuga, Shihime, Kazehana, Tamotsu – VICTORY**

As the light faded, Yuga and Shihime found themselves back in the school's stadium, now properly lit up… and filled with thunderous applause, as there was now a massive audience. With their monsters gone, Kazehana's and Tamotsu's bodies were now laying on the ground, not moving an inch. "That was amazing!" A spectator cheered.

"I almost lost my mind with that! Awesome!" Another cried out. More praise came from the crowd as they kept cheering and clapping.

Shihime and Yuga smiled at each other, but then they heard Benedict laugh. They turned to look at him as he started out in his character's evil laugh, but it didn't take long before he broke out into a joyous laugh like the spectators. "HAHAHAHAHAHA!" He couldn't help before he fell back on his butt with laughter. "That was AMAZING! That was the best game I've played TO DATE! HAHAHAHAHA!"

Benedict suddenly found himself hefted to his feet by an angry Shihime holding his collar. "You think you still get to claim this is a game after all of this?!"

"Easy, Shihime... Don't go too overboard yourself..." Yuga said, trying to calm her down.

Contrasting the entire Duel, Benedict looked clearly afraid. "Whoa, whoa! I didn't want it like this! Seriously!" He cried. "The Boss told me going full monty might be the best way to sell this game to you guys!"

Yuga and Shihime looked confused. "…'The Boss'?"

At that moment, a familiar laugh caught their attention, and the two of them looked back to see Zed walking up, clapping for them. "Sorry to play you guys, but it was totally worth it." He said before snapping his fingers, and when he did, Kazehana and Tamotsu started to stir before finally sitting up.

Kazehana yawned, smacking her lips as she looked around. "Huh? Is the Duel over?"

"Ngh. How long were we out?" Tamotsu asked, holding his head.

"Only a few minutes." Zed told them. "Gotta say, you two throwing yourself in front of Benedict to let Yuga and Hime get to the Exit?" He kissed his hand like an Italian chef. "Perfect."

"Wait... so it was YOUR idea to have him nearly scare us to death?" Yuga asked.

"I was seriously tempted to tell him to bug off with that, but the guy's got a knack for giving good reasons for things." Benedict said to Yuga before addressing Zed. "You're still a dick for that, dude."

Zed merely flashed his teeth. "Yes, I am, but you guys love me for it."

Kazehana just now heard all of this, snapping her head to look at the others. "Wait... HE was behind this? WHY?"

"Just to prank you guys good on Halloween." Zed replied. "Plus, close as we are, I wanted to make sure how ready you guys are." All four kids that were in the Duel gave an "Eh?" in response. "We've been through a lot already, but I get the feeling that there's a lot worse out there that we haven't seen yet. I wanted to see just how well you guys work as a team, and I gotta say," he gave a thumbs-up, "you're one of the best teams I've ever seen.

Hoshiko finally came onto the field with Yusha. "Really? You did this because you don't trust us?"

"It's not that I don't trust you guys. We helped re-establish the connections between our worlds, but goodness knows that someone out there is going to be as bad or worse than what our parents dealt with. And with as rag-tag as an entertainer, a daredevil, a walking ad for OCD, and a pampered princess can be, I wanted to make you could handle real deal threats if they came."

Yuya and co. looked amongst each other for a moment, contemplating what Zed just said. "And if it counts for anything, I got to show that my style of Duel is something that people will actually enjoy." Benedict said. "You guys DID have fun, right?" An answer didn't immediately come, making him start to sweat and get nervous. "Right? Oh, God, please don't tell me I blew my chance with Sakaki-sama."

"…To be honest, yeah, it was kinda fun." Yuga said, making Benedict "Eh?" in response. "I mean, now that I hear the truth, looking back on it now... it was almost like a regular Action Duel. Just with scary stuff. You clearly don't sound like the kind of person who would actually try to hurt us, at least you don't NOW."

"The amount of creativity and effort put into your Deck and the Action Fields was also very impressive." Tamotsu said with a smile. "I can think of a few people back home who'd want to try this kind of Duel out."

Immense relief went through Benedict as he gave a happy sighs. "I've been working on this really hard with the Goodwin Brothers and Boss's Tou-san to get this right." He said. "We had to reconfigure some of my cards into Action Cards for it all to work, but so long as I configure my Deck the right way it works out well. And with the right calibrations, anyone can play the "Killer Duelist". Granted, the story here works more with us in Dark Synchro Dimension, but the right person can easily write the story as they go."

"Maybe it can be done on wheels, too!" Kazehana chirped. "A Turbo Duel like this sounds awesome!"

Benedict rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Y'know, I was kinda hoping I could bring this to the Pendulum Dimension on Halloween. It's a few days away, but I could probably get myself ready by then." He turned to Yuga. "Do you think Sakaki-san would be OK with hosting me?"

"Tou-san? You kiddin? He'd love to see what you got." Yuga told him, smiling. "Him, Reiji-san, even Jii-san."

A wide smile stretched on Benedict's face as he gave a double fistpump. "Yosh! I can't wait to show it off!"

"I'm sure everyone will love it, Benedict." Shihime told him. "Which reminds me..." She pointed to both Benedict and Zed. "I owe you two something for all of this."

Benedict headtilted. "Huh?"

"What's up?" Zed asked.

With a pivot of her heel, Shihime quickly spun around on her foot, and with a single spin, both Dark Synchro boys were smacked twice right in the face by the tails of her sash, Zed getting hit hard enough to knock him back on his rear, coming to a stop and crossing her arms. "That is payback."

For the record, I did say I didn't want to go that far." Benedict said as he rubbed his cheek. "I don't really have that good a control of my Terror Radius. It just kinda can... go wild sometimes."

"I know. That's why I went easy on you." Shihime said. "Zed wasn't so lucky."

"And I admit, I deserve it." Zed said as he got back to his feet. "Be more trusting of my friends, right?"

"Why did you even play us along, Zed?" Yusha asked.

"Part of the game. Some of us would be planted throughout the audience to play on the fear of Dark Synchro Dimensioners. Yuga pretty much summed up the main point of it, right?"

"You mean what I said back when Shihime thought she was actually hurt?" Yuga asked.

Zed nodded. "Right. Part of the game is for us to sell that the Killer Duelist is either going too method or rather is as deranged as he seems. Like tour guides on a haunted attraction.

Yuga smirked. "Well, between you and Benedict, I'm not sure which one is supposed to be the deranged one here." His remark caused everyone on the field to start laughing. Even Benedict found it funny, and it wasn't long before Zed himself was laughing at the insult directed at him. It may have been a scary experience beforehand, but in the end, this school in the Dark Synchro Dimension was a more truthful representation of it all: It was just like every other place. Complete with differing senses of humor and entertainment.

* * *

 **Author-Made Cards**

Grand Mass of Vengeance  
Level 11 DARK Zombie/Dark Tuner  
ATK:400/DEF:400  
You can banish 3 monsters from your Graveyard: Special Summon this card from your hand. If this card is used as a Dark Synchro Material, the other Materials can be up to 2 monsters in your hand.

Rampart Revenant - Turret Eight (TCG: Turreight the Rampart Revenant)  
Level 4 EARTH Zombie  
ATK:2000/DEF:0  
Cannot attack unless you control another "Rampart Revenant" monster. (OCG/TCG: 2 other Revenants are needed to attack) If this card attacks a Defense Position monster, inflict doubled piercing battle damage to your opponent. If this card is destroyed and sent to the Graveyard: Special Summon 1 "Rampart Revenant" monster from your hand or Graveyard in Defense Position, except " **Turreight the Rampart Revenant** ".

Servant of the Entity - Forest Huntress  
Level -6 EARTH Fiend/Dark Synchro  
ATK:2350/DEF:0  
1 or more non-Tuner monsters - 1 Dark Tuner  
When this card is Dark Synchro Summoned: Place 5 Hatchet Counters on this card. Once per turn: You can move this card to an adjacent unoccupied Monster Card Zone on your side of the field. Once per turn, during either player's turn: You can remove 1 Hatchet Counter; apply the appropriate effect:  
* If there are no monsters on your opponent's side of the field in the same column as this card: Inflict 500 damage to your opponent's LP.  
* If there is a monster on your opponent's side of the field is in the same column as this card: Reduce that monster's ATK by 1000.

Bounty of Nature  
Action Spell Card  
Draw 3 cards.

Reclaimed from the Shadows  
Normal Spell Card  
Target 1 "Servant of the Entity" monster you control: Equip 1 Equip Spell Card from your Graveyard to it. If the equipped monster is destroyed: Banish both it and the card equipped to it by this card's effect. If the card equipped to that monster is destroyed: Halve the equipped monster's original ATK and DEF.

Beast of Prey  
Equip Spell Card  
Once per turn, during your opponent's Battle Phase: You can discard 1 card from your hand and target 1 Attack Position monster your opponent controls; it must attack the equipped monster this turn. If you activate this effect, this card is unaffected by your opponent's cards and effects until the end of the Battle Phase.

Exit Gate  
Action Spell Card  
If you have activated 5 "Generators": You win the Duel.

Beckoning  
Action Spell Card  
Target 1 monster your opponent controls: If it battles a monster you control this turn, it is treated as the attacking monster.

Vengeful Hook  
Action Spell Card  
If a "Servant of the Entity" monster you control would be destroyed by battle: It is not destroyed, then halve your opponent's Life Points. (This effect is treated as your opponent activated "Hooked".)

Object of Obsession  
Action Spell Card  
Target 1 monster you control: Your opponent's monsters can only attack that monster this turn.

Decisive Strike  
Action Spell Card  
Activate only if "Object of Obsession" has been activated this turn. When a monster your opponent controls attacks a monster you control: Negate the attack, and if you do, halve the attacking monster's original ATK and inflict the same amount to your opponent as damage.

Hook Hunter  
Action Spell Card  
Banish 1 "Servant of the Entity" monster from your Graveyard: Activate 1 "Hooked" and apply its effect to any other player.

Saboteur  
Action Spell Card  
When a Trap Card is activated: Negate the activation, and destroy that card.

* * *

 **RK777: And they survived. Was there really any doubt? Did you really think they'd be Dead By Daylight?**

 **Vile: XD Nice way to finally give the answer, since no one got it. Yup, this entire Duel style was based on Dead By Daylight. I've never played it and really didn't care much about it, but Rocket pitched the idea and I eventually saw that it had potential. Potential that we managed to use greatly.**

 **RK777: That we did. Dead By Daylight is an asymmetrical Horror/Survival game that plays similar to this Duel, only you can't really fight back against the Killers. If anyone's played the Friday the 13th game, it's like that.**

 **Vile: Indeed. And speaking of video games, *puts on a copy of Mario's hat with Cappy's eyes* I've got a copy of Super Mario Odyssey that needs playing.**

 **RK777: You do that. Maybe I can finally get one of my stories done in the meantime. *Eva and Keko hop into our laps as Mimikyu rides Miracull***

 **Vile: I wish you luck with that, man. *to readers* If you guys liked this story, leave a review for me. Also, before I forget, _I'm re-opening writing commissions_ , so if anyone really wants something from me, don't be afraid to hit me up by FF PM, DeviantArt (CosmicRoseDragon), Twitter, or Tumblr! I can give explanations for how they work! Ja ne for now! *jumps away* Wahoo!**

 **RK777: And a Happy Halloween to all of you up at the witching hour reading this.**

 **Computer Voice: Vile, logging out.**


End file.
